Heart to Heart
by Agent-G
Summary: Yang and Jaune both are people who have suffered pain and loss, can two friends help each other to heal the scars of the past? Maybe along the way also find something between them that will lead them to rethinking their relationship as simply friends to something more? (Post Season 5) Yang/Jaune, Nora/Ren, Blake/Sun with some Ruby/Oscar and other pairings. Cover by Perfilles Studio
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY it's owned by Rooster Teeth and I make no profit from this.**

 **Well here I am back again after a long hiatus in a few fandom. Took me some time to get inspired again but I want to give this story a shot. Yes this is a Yang x Jaune story, there will also be some Sun x Blake going on. Not sure if there will be others but we'll see how the story goes. This starts off right after the end of Season Five.**

 **Also please excuse any spelling/grammar errors I do my best but the sneaky buggers tend to slip through at times and I don't have time for a beta.**

 **Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 1: The Broken**

Yang Xiao Long was walking the halls of Haven Academy in Mistral. It had been a hell of a long day, the fight with Cinder and her people, dealing with her mom, the things that were said, getting that Relic (which they had no idea what it actually did) plus all the other things that had happened. Blake was back and her team was reunited since Beacon's fall. It felt good to have everyone back together again, like pieces of their lives had been returned to them.

Yang smiled at the memory of just them hugging each other, no words were needed between them in that moment. They were together and that was all they needed. Of course things still hadn't calmed down even after the battle. The White Fang had to be rounded up and dealt with, the authorities wanted to know just what in the hell was going on. It didn't help that the school's head master Leonardo Lionheart was a traitor but was later found dead in his office.

Yang didn't hear how but from what she did overhear it hadn't been a pretty death.

So with everything they were going to have to stay here until both the authorities were satisfied that things were settled and everyone needed a break. Qrow also needed to help plan for a way for them to get to Atlas, since the whole country was now on lock down it wasn't as easy as just getting a boat or flight there. Qrow said he had some contacts he wanted to try out so they were all pretty much waiting to see what happened with that.

Although it was getting late, Yang just didn't feel like sleeping just yet. She was too wound up with everything, her mind was just full of things that wouldn't quiet down. So she had decided to head to the training room that was close to the dorms and blow off some steam.

Looking around the place was so different from Beacon, while Beacon had this modern style to it with all the stone and artistic style to everything. This place felt older with all the wooden structures and the design of it all. She came to the door that would slide open when she heard sounds coming from the other side.

"Apparently I'm not the only one that thought to burn the midnight oil." She reached for the door but froze.

" _ **Alright Jaune, just liked we practiced…"**_

"Pyrrha!?" Yang whispered feeling like Weiss had just sent a shard of ice into her chest. It couldn't be, she was gone!

She pulled open the door and there stood Jaune Arc swinging his sword.

"… _ **Shield up, keep your grip tight, don't forget to keep your right foot forward…"**_

Yang's eyes widened seen the voice come from Jaune's scroll as on it was a video of Pyrrha. Yang felt a pang in her heart for her friend. Yang hadn't heard that she had died until a few days after she had woken up in the hospital.

She stood there watching as Jaune completed the instructions from the video but then Pyrrha paused. She looked like she wanted to say something but that was when Jaune came over and paused the video and sighed.

Jaune looked at the frozen image on the screen, he had lost count of how many times he had seen this. He had memorized it by now but mainly he just played it because he wanted to hear her voice again. It hurt so much that she was gone, like someone had ripped a part of him away. He missed her so much plus he didn't want to hear that last part again.

He knew what she had wanted to say, looking back on their relationship he felt so stupid for not seeing it. He never thought that someone like his friend Pyrrha had those kinds of feelings for him but in that moment when she kissed him his eyes had been opened. It was also the last moment he saw her alive. He wasn't sure what hurt more, all the time they could have had together or all that was taken from them before they had even gotten started with a relationship.

Yang could see Jaune's slumped shoulders and could see the boy was in pain. Pain was something Yang was all too familiar with lately. Plus Jaune had always been the bright spot of team JNPR seeing him like this didn't seem right. So she stepped into the room to make her presence known.

"Seems like you and me had the same idea." She spoke up and had to admit, it was kind of funny seeing Jaune jump in surprise and looked at her startled.

"Y-Yang?"

"That's my name," she smiled at him and then looked at the scroll before her face took on a slightly more somber tone. "It was nice of her to give you something to help you with training."

Jaune looked at the scroll and nodded. "Yeah, it helped."

"I'll say," Yang grinned. "I didn't catch it all since we were all kind of fighting but you really did get better last time I saw you."

"You think?" Jaune looked at her surprised and actually kind of flattered. Yang was one of the strongest people he knew and her saying that had some weight to it.

"Yep," she grinned as she stretched out he shoulders, "So let's just see how much."

"What?"

"Come on, I came to get in a workout and you're already here." Yang went into the center of the room and got into her fighting stance. "Plus you can only get so good practicing the same thing. If you really want to get better it's best to train with someone else."

Jaune took a breath and went to meet her, honestly he wasn't sure how long he could last against Yang. Back at Beacon he had only fought her a few times in the combat classes and all those times she had laid him out flat in a few seconds. But he wasn't the same person he was back then, he had grown, he just wasn't sure by how much.

Getting his sword and shield up he faced off against her. He knew that Yang liked to start off a fight he would wait to see what she did and then counter. He took a few measured breaths as he watched the blonde in front of him watching him.

He paused as he realized that Yang was sizing him up instead of just charging in, that was different. It didn't last long as with the familiar 'bang' of her weapons launched her forward.

Yang launched herself with her right arm cocked back for a punch. Jaune raised his shield but instead of taking the full force like she thought he would he deflected her fist. She saw him twist around as he spun and came at her with his sword. Internally she smirked, he had learned a few things since Beacon.

Well so had she.

She lowered her body and rolled foreword as she could feel the blade pass over her head. She twisted with the roll and kicked forward. She Jaune making another swing at her as she raised her metal arm to take the blow. Before she lost her arm, she would use the Ember Celica that would have been there to block but now with her artificial arm she had a couple of new options.

Jaune's eyes widened as Yang caught his blade with her hand, holding on to it. He wasn't used to fighting someone that didn't have to worry about being cut but he couldn't worry about that now. Yang's other hand came in as she was getting ready to fire at point blank. Jaune twisted his body so that the blast just grazed the armor of his back.

He planted his feet and with all his strength slammed himself and his shield of his left arm into Yang's body. She was rocked back letting go of his blade as the two paused for a moment. Yang had on a smile on her face as she rolled her shoulders.

"Nice, back in Beacon you would have been out flat by now." She raised her arms getting ready for the next round.

Jaune got himself prepared, "Thanks."

He knew however, he couldn't keep this up. Against someone like Yang, he would have to give a solid blow with everything he had but the problem was landing it and making it stick. While his endurance and aura were both higher than normal, Yang could take a beating and send it back with force. The longer this fight went the more it would eventually go in her favor.

Yang came foreword with the flurry of punches and it took Jaune everything he had to dodge and deflect them, she was pushing him back with every blow and he knew she was trying to get him to the outside of the training ring.

He could have to do something crazy and unexpected as he needed a few seconds to pull off what he had planned.

Yang cocked her weapon on her left arm and charged forward, Jaune was putting up a pretty decent fight. She had better but given how she remembered how he used to be this was a pleasant surprise. Although if he stayed on defense she knew she was going to blow through it eventually. She threw out a left hand straight and fired but noticed too late he wasn't dodging it. He ran forward towards her, it was too late to pull back or stop herself from firing.

He angled his shield up as he ducked his head behind it, most of the force of her blast was sent up blinding Yang for a moment. That was when Jaune put as much effort into a side kick that he could into her stomach. Yang felt the blow as she jumped back, that had been a solid hit on her as she looked up to see Jaune's shield fold in.

He placed his sword into it as he came forward and in and wide over headed arc the blade transformed in the middle of the swing. She had seen him use this 'great sword' mode in the battle. She was pretty sure her new arm could take the blow, after all it was supposed to be top of the line military unit but she didn't want to take the chance.

Getting spare parts with Atlas' borders closed would be a pain in the ass.

So she went with option B, she knew that in the past she would charge in but not this time. She fired her gauntlet in front of her making her go back as the large blade buried itself into the ground.

"Oh no," Jaune looked as where Yang had been with his sword down and looked up just in time to see the blonde coming at him like a missile. The sword while stronger in this form was also slower because of the size and weight. He tried to bring it up but he wasn't fast enough as Yang's fist slammed into his chest.

His aura flared as he landed five feet away onto his back.

"Ow." He said lamely looking up at the ceiling.

Yang walked over to him looking down at Jaune. "Not bad."

"Really?" He asked looking up at her.

"Yeah," she smiled as she offered him a hand. He took it as she helped him to his feet. "You really did get stronger while I wasn't looking."

"It's been a long trip," He said going to the side with the benches and sat down. He had left a water bottle there and he eagerly took a few gulps.

"From what I hear, yeah it was," Yang sat down next to him remembering all the stories they had told each other when everyone was catching up. "Still can't believe you guys fought a Grimm that was half horse and half humanoid."

"Yeah it wasn't easy," Jaune told her. "Qrow said it was called a, uh…Nuckle-something. I can't remember, he said it was really rare type of Grimm and pretty nasty. I can attest to the nasty part."

"Well from our little spar I can see that you must have held your own." Yang nudged him with her shoulder.

"Thanks," he had a small smile but Yang noticed that the smile didn't reach his eyes.

Jaune seemed to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders lately as Yang took a close look at him. He wasn't the clumsy goofball he had been, well okay, he still was but he had matured since she last saw him.

"Hey what's up? You seem kind of down or something." She asked him nudging his shoulder with her own.

Jaune glanced at her and slumped his shoulders. "You know sometimes I wish I was more like you."

"What, a girl?" She teased him.

"W-what!? No," He shifted a little uncomfortably. "I mean, you're always so confident and you're strong too. I just wish I was more like that, then maybe…never mind."

Yang was silent a moment, she and Jaune were never really the closest of friends but looking at him now she could see he was hurting. She knew this because despite everything, she was still hurting herself. "I'm not as strong as you might think Jaune."

He looked over at her as Yang stared at her artificial hand.

"You're right, I was fearless but I was also arrogant. I thought I was invisible that nothing could touch me or hurt me. I charged ahead without a care in the world and was ready to beat down anything that got in my way."

Yang sighed, "But I paid for it. I lost more than my arm Jaune. You said I'm fearless but the truth is after that day I'm not. I'm scared Jaune, I'm scared a lot but I hide it because I don't want Ruby and the others to worry. I get so scared that I sometimes I have to nearly grit my teeth and force it down, I have to keep my legs from wanting to run away. I get nightmares too."

"Yang…I had no idea," Jaune said softly.

"That's kind of the point," Yang looked up at the ceiling. "I didn't want anyone to worry but I feel…broken inside sometimes."

"Yeah." Jaune looked down at the ground. "I know how that feels too."

Yang had a sad little smile on her face when she looked at him. "That's why I'm telling you and you better not tell anyone else or so help me."

"I won't, you have my word." Jaune said quickly. "And an Arc never goes back on their word."

"So I hear," Yang gave a small laugh. "Still feels kind of nice getting that off my shoulders, even just a little."

Jaune wondered about that, he had been keeping a lot of things lately. Looking at the bottle in his hands he was wondering to voice something that had been nagging him since the battle. Maybe he needed someone to ask, if only he could get some kind of answer.

"Yang, am I a good person?" Jaune asked her.

She was surprised by that, "Well yeah, you're Jaune. Mr. Nice Guy is kind of your thing."

"I'm not so sure," He paused thinking he had come this far. "I wanted to kill Cinder you know. Not hurt her, or take her in for what she did. I actually wanted to kill another person Yang and I don't know how to feel about it. I can't see myself just killing another human being but with her, with her I can and it kind of scares me."

Yang wasn't sure how to answer that, "She did kill your partner…if that Adam jerk had killed Blake or if Weiss or Ruby were killed…I think I would feel the same."

Jaune felt a bit better about that but he wasn't sure Yang knew the full reason. "I actually had this whole thing planned out you know. I wanted to avenge Pyrrha, I wanted to face Cinder and make her pay for what she did. You remember what she said when I faced with her?"

Yang nodded her head. Thinking back on that moment Jaune had tears in his eyes facing that woman and she hadn't even known who he was. All that pain she had caused him and she didn't even bother to remember those that she hurt.

"I was still too weak to stop her," Jaune signed taking a moment to try and not get too emotional but it was hard. All the pain was still inside of him even after Cinder was gone. At least everyone thought she was, only Yang came back up from below and had said only Raven had been standing when she got there.

"I always feel weak and helpless Yang," His voice cracked a bit. "Weiss nearly died because I was too weak to stop Cinder, hell she got hurt because Cinder wanted to make me feel more pain."

She took his hand in hers, "Jaune you saved her. Weiss is still alive with us because of you."

"I know," Jaune still stared down at the ground. "Thankfully I finally unlocked my semblance but I still can't help wondering. If I was stronger she might not have been in danger, maybe if I was stronger back then I could have saved Pyrrha, maybe she wouldn't have sent me away to face Cinder on her own."

"Jaune, I don't know exactly what happened to you on that night but I know Pyrrha." She said. "She was the type to carry the entire world on her shoulders if she felt it would save those she cared about. You were her partner and she didn't want to see you get hurt."

He figured that Yang didn't know just how Pyrrha felt, hell he hadn't until it was too late. He was wondering if anyone did.

"Pyrrha was in love with me you know," Jaune said softly.

"What?" Yang's eyes widened. She always felt that the red headed woman cared for Jaune but loved him?

"She kissed me that night."

"Like…on the cheek or,"

"On my lips Yang, she kissed me and then pushed me into a locker and sent me away," He felt a tear fall on his face as the image replayed again in his mind. "That was the last I ever saw of her."

Yang was struck speechless, she had no idea this had happened. "Jaune…did you love Pyrrha?"

He was silent for a moment.

"I don't know…" He admitted. "I loved her as my partner, as my friend but I think…I think I could have loved her like she wanted, like she deserved. She was just gone before I could sort out my feelings. That's one of the reasons I hated Cinder so much, she took her away and she took what could have been."

"All those times I was after Weiss, it must have killed her inside," Jaune hated the thought that he had caused her pain even inadvertently.

"You didn't know Jaune."

"I wish I did," he signed wiping his face and took out his scroll. "I really wish I had known…"

He played the video as Yang watched, it was strange seeing her on the screen just like Yang remembered her. It hurt a bit seeing Pyrrha on the screen of his scroll rather in person. Hearing her praise Jaune on the message, about how hard he worked and how far he had come made Yang agree with the girl.

He had come a long way from that first day he had puked on the air ride into Beacon.

" _ **Jaune…I…I…I just want you to know that I'm just happy to be a part of your life. I'll always be here for you Jaune."**_

"Oh Pyrrha," Yang whispered feeling the sting in her eyes. The girl had tried to confess her feelings, she could see it in the video after what Jaune had told her. All this time Pyrrha had kept her feelings locked up until it was too late.

Jaune stopped the video and looked at her face, he had memorized her face by this point never wanting to forget her. He wiped his eyes as he felt his heart breaking all over again.

"Sorry," he said looking away.

"It's okay," Yang told him softly.

There was a pause between the two of them before Yang broke the silence.

"We're both pretty messed up huh?"

"Yeah, what's that saying about misery loving company?"

Yang got a small smile, "Well at least we got each other to bring us down."

Jaune looked at her now looking into those lilac colored eyes. He could see the pain behind them, the same he saw when he looked into a mirror some days. He reached out and took her robotic hand in his.

"I still think you're one of the strongest people I know Yang." He honestly said as she looked at him in his eyes. "Even after everything you've gone through you're still here. You came after Ruby to help her out, despite all the dangers."

"Not at first," She looked down at her feet. "I was stuck in my bed feeling sorry for myself when my sister needed me."

"After everything no one could blame you Yang."

"I blame myself," Yang signed and looked up at him. "I took me time to work up the nerve to get on my bike and look for her. Jaune, I wanted to thank you for being there for her when I couldn't be. When I struggled to get out of bed despite everything you went through, you were out there for Ruby."

"I couldn't just let her go alone," Jaune felt his face warm up a bit at the praise.

"Still, you said I'm strong but you're strong too Jaune," Yang squeezed his hand slightly. "Don't think you're not strong because you're strong when it counts. You are always there for your friends no matter what the danger. So I don't want to hear any more about you being 'weak' okay?"

He gave a small smile. "Only if you promise the same."

"Okay, so we'll keep each other in check then, deal?"

He nodded his head. "Deal."

"Great," she smiled at him looking at him again. "You know you've come a long way from that guy that threw up on my boots."

Jaune rolled his eyes and signed letting go of her hand. "Am I ever going to live that down? I didn't know I get air sick, it was my first ever flight."

"Nope, the Vomit Boy nickname will live on forever," she joked and nearly laughed seeing him pout at her. It was just so adorable, like a puppy. "Okay well since we're stuck here until, however long it is for things to settle how about I help out with your physical training?"

"Really?" He asked perking up a bit.

"Hell yeah, we can also work on some hand to hand if you want." She paused thinking about it. "We can even get Weiss and Blake to help with your sword skills since I don't know anything about that."

"Thanks Yang that would actually be helpful." Jaune told her.

"Hey we blondes need to stick together," She smiled as she got up and stretched out. "Well after all that emotional baggage and soul searching I'm feeling emotionally drained."

"Yeah same," he got up. "I feel like I could sleep now."

Yang nodded her head. "Yeah the girls will most likely be wondering where I am. Ruby got a room for all four of use picked out so we can sleep together like we used to." It had been so long since the four of them had been together. She knew things couldn't go back to the way they used to be but that didn't mean they couldn't bring back some of the good times with them into the future.

As the two walked back to the dorm rooms they had a comfortable silence between the two of them. They had shared a lot with each other and Yang felt like they had grown closer as friends because of it. Maybe they were both broken inside but maybe tonight a few of the pieces had started to get fixed.

 **TBC…**


	2. Chapter 2: Girl Talk

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 2: Girl Talk**

Yang and Jaune walked back to the dorm rooms their teams currently were living in. There was a comfortable silence between the two of them was they made their way down the halls. The school was finally quiet although with the headmaster gone if the academy was going to open on time was still up in the air.

They knew that Mistral was going to have to find a new headmaster and who knew how long that would take. Well as long as they weren't kicked out before they were ready to go on the next leg of their adventure then everything would be okay. They walked into the main living area, which unlike Beacon this school was set up differently.

While Beacon had team rooms linked to a hallway, Mistral seemed to set theirs up with larger rooms. The ground floor held a common room in the center with an open kitchen and dining room, there was the smaller dining room off to the side where you had to sit on the floor at the table.

Yang noticed how quiet it was.

"Guess everyone is in their rooms." She said.

"Must be," Jaune agreed as they headed to the stairs to the upper level were the rooms were located. There were four rooms meaning that this place was supposed to have four full teams. At the moment Team RWBY was in one, his team was across from them although Sun had moved in to take the empty bed.

The last two were used by Qrow and Oscar/Ozpin took another bed and the previously empty room was being used by Blake's parents and that Faunus girl Ilia that came with Blake. Jaune didn't know much about them but they seemed okay. Although Blake's dad was massive, it was somewhat intimidating. He really didn't envy Sun trying to get on that man's good side.

"Hey Jaune?"

His attention was now back to Yang, "Yes Yang?"

"Thanks," she said honestly. "For both listening and for opening up to me."

"I should thank you as well for that," He told her. "I felt better to get some of that off my chest."

"Well if you ever need another talk my office is always open," she joked.

He gave her a small smile, "Deal and I'm a pretty good listener myself."

She nodded her head and said goodnight to him before opening the door. The room had four beds all facing towards the center of the room. It felt strange, she was used to their old setup at Beacon and it just felt a bit strange to her.

"There you are!" Ruby her energetic little sister and team leader was sitting on her bed in her PJs pointing an accusing finger at her. "We've been calling your scroll for the past fifteen minutes."

Yang blinked and took out the small white device and opened it up, she had three missed messages.

"Oh sorry about that, I guess it was on silence mode." She shrugged putting it away. "Honestly Ruby I just went to the training area to burn off some energy. I'm not going to disappear on you."

"Sorry," Ruby calmed down a bit as she looked down at her feet. "I just got worried, we are all back together for the first time since Beacon and…well I just didn't want to lose that again."

Yang gave her a warm smile, "I'm not going anywhere sis."

"I don't know how you have any energy left after today," That was Weiss who was sitting in a chair looking in a mirror as she brushed her long white hair. She was currently in a pair of sweat pants and t-shirt. It was the only spare thing they could find since Weiss lost her luggage when her ship crashed and then the whole kidnapping thing didn't help.

"I feel totally exhausted," she sighed.

Yang noticed her dress on the dresser next to the bed she had gotten. "Cleaned up your clothing from earlier?"

"I got the…blood out," Weiss had been shown the laundry room and had put her clothing in there. She didn't want it stained with her own blood after all but it was still hard to think about. She looked over at the blue dress. "The hole in it, well that's another story."

"We'll fix it up like new Weiss," Ruby offered. "Plus we could always get a new one."

Weiss knew that her partner was just trying to help but that dress was worth more than what some people made in a month. Also the face that she didn't have any access to her accounts thanks to her father would also be an issue later on. She mentally shrugged, they would deal with that in the morning.

Blake was being silent, which was somewhat normal, but the dark haired Faunus was most likely still feeling a bit guilty about leaving without a word last time. Yang would have to tell her that all was forgiven later if only to make her partner feel a bit more at ease.

"That reminds me," Yang looked to Weiss, "Ran into Jaune training too, I hope you thanked him for saving your life."

"I planned on doing that tomorrow," the heiress said. "I was going to do it tonight but he vanished on me, looks like he went off to train."

"Yep, good old Jaune has been kicking up his training," Yang grinned. "Took me nearly five minutes to get him down."

"He got that better?" Blake finally spoke up.

"Oh yeah you should have seen some of the things he's done lately," Ruby said all excited for her friend.

Yang gave a small laugh, "You fill Blake in, I need to shower and change."

Yang picked up her own sleepwear and went into the small bathroom as she could hear Ruby talk about their trip here and everything that had happened. Yang closed the door as she started to strip off her clothing. She finished by detaching the mechanical arm, although it could in theory get wet she didn't want to risk it. Plus it wasn't like she wasn't used to doing things with one arm anyway with the months she spent before she got the new arm.

The warm water felt nice on her skin and hair, it took her a little longer to get herself clean with just the one arm but she had come up with a system for it. After she was down and drying herself off she put on her clothing and gathered up her usual attire and her arm in one hand and opened the door.

"And then Jaune unlocked his semblance," Ruby's voice was heard as soon as Yang opened up the door.

"It looks like Jaune has come a long way," Blake was sitting cross-legged on her bed now listening to the story.

"I have to admit the Jaune isn't like how he was." Weiss had since finished with her hair and was getting into her bed.

"Yep, old Vomit Boy is growing up fast," Yang grinned placing her clothing by her bed along with her arm.

"You don't sleep with your arm on?" Blake wondered aloud.

"Nope," Yang told her sitting on her bed with a shrug. "It's because the cold of the metal again my skin sometimes wakes me up plus there is a gun in that thing. I really don't want to wake up to find that in my sleep the barrel came out and pointing at my face or something."

What she didn't tell anyone was that the last time she had slept with the thing on and had one of her nightmares she had accidentally fired it off. It scared the hell out of her that night, not to mention having to help dad fix her wall that morning.

"You could just disarm it." Weiss told her.

There was a silence as Yang raised an eyebrow at her friend before Weiss suddenly realized what she had said.

"I didn't mean to make a pun!" she shouted at Yang falling back onto her bed and quickly taking her pillow and putting on her embarrassed face. "I blame your influence for this Yang!"

"Too late," Yang laughed, "It was a good one too, I've been trying to work that one into conversation for awhile now. Anyways, I know I could but if I ever forgot it would be too much of a risk. Plus this helps to save on power anyway."

The dust powering the arm could last for two months in all honesty but Yang still didn't want to sleep with the thing on after that night. She had been lucky she hadn't shot herself or dad or something else.

"Yang," Blake looked uneasy. "I know I haven't said it yet but I'm sorry. I'm sorry for leaving when I did."

Yang sighed and was quiet a moment, "I know."

The blonde went up to her friend and Blake looked at her with a little trepidation before Yang pulled her into a one arm hug. She hugged back hard squeezing her eyes shut, Blake hated running away again. She had just felt so guilty about everything, everyone close to her seemed to suffer around her sometimes.

Yang pulled back and then poked her with a slight glare. "But don't you dare do this again! This is your second strike on running away you know."

Blake's ears flattened remembering the first time before her friends found out she had been a Faunus and had been part of the White Fang. "I know."

"So you better promise me that you will never, ever do this again."

Blake looked into Yang's eyes and nodded her head. "I've run away too many times, I promise I won't."

Yang's expression softened, "Good, because if you get strike three I will hunt you down and kick your ass. And since Sun has this uncanny ability to find you, I'll employ him as my blood hound to help me do it."

Now it was Blake's turn to give a small glare at her friend. "You would wouldn't you."

Yang smiled, "Yep."

The blonde then paused as something she had been thinking about for awhile now. "So what's going on between you two anyway?"

"What do you mean?" Blake tried to play dumb but the slight blush was telling the others more than what she wanted them to know.

Yang saw it and grinned. "Oh? You take a boy home to meet your parents and it doesn't mean anything?"

"I didn't take him home, he followed me home," Blake defended herself. This only set Yang off laughing as Blake had to ask what was so funny.

"When you said that I just got this image in my head of you showing up to your parents with Sun and going 'Mom he followed me home, can I keep him' like he was a lost puppy." Yang nearly laughed again. Ruby could be heard snorting as she tried to keep her laughter in check. Weiss had come out from behind her pillow and had on a smirk on her face.

Yang found a pillow suddenly slamming into her face from Blake. It wasn't hard but it had just enough force to let the blonde know her dark haired teammate was annoyed.

"And now I have two pillows," Yang sang picking it up and walking to her bed.

Blake huffed out in annoyance before crossing her arms. "Looks Sun is just…a friend okay."

Yang glanced at her and was about to let it go before she flashed back to what she learned earlier with Jaune. Her face fell slightly as she thought about how if Pyrrha had just gotten the nerve to talk to Jaune earlier things could have been different between them. They could all tell that there was something going on between Blake and Sun but she was either too stubborn or scared to admit it.

She didn't want to see Blake one day regretting not having the courage to face this.

Yang calmly walked back to Blake and handed her the pillow back. "Blake can I tell you something? Something as your partner, teammate and as your friend?"

Blake blinked at the seriously in Yang it was a sudden turn but she nodded her head. Yang only got serious a few times but when she did it was usually a good idea to listen.

Yang took a breath before saying it. "Get over yourself."

Weiss's jaw dropped as Ruby got a worried look that a fight might break out. Blake looked like she had just been slapped in the face.

"Excuse me!?" Blake narrowed her eyes.

"I don't know why you have this complex about being happy." Yang continued on lightly touching Blake's shoulder and giving her a pleading look. "You always seem to feel like you deserve to be punished or that you don't deserve to be happy but you do. I just don't want to see another set of my friends one day being in pain because they couldn't face their fears and admit their feelings."

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked.

Yang sighed as she closed her eyes, she didn't know if Jaune wanted it a secret. She should have asked but if that tragedy could help out their friends she got the feeling Jaune might be okay with it. "Did you know that Pyrrha loved Jaune and I mean more than just a friend."

Blake's eyes widened. "I…I knew she cared for him but you mean she was in love with him?"

Yang nodded her head. "She confessed to him before pushing him into that locker and sending him away that night."

Well she knew that she hadn't confessed in the traditional sense but it was pretty much what happened. She could see Blake processing things, Ruby had her knees drawn up but didn't look that surprised. Had she known or found out?

Weiss's eyes shifted back and forth remembering that night that Beacon fell. She remembered how Jaune sounded when he had called her and Ruby on that scroll. He had sounded so desperate and hearing this it put that memory into a new light. Her heart reached out to the two of them at what had happened.

"That's why Blake," Yang looked at her partner in the eyes. "I don't know if confessing would have changed anything but can you honestly say that the happiness they could have had would have meant anything less?"

"I just…" Blake hugged the pillow to her chest. She didn't know what to say about that, it just that every time something seemed to be working out life would come along and take it away.

"We're going into dangerous situations," Blake finally said. "We're going to go up against someone who has been the greatest enemy our entire world has known and kept herself secret all this time. From what you told me she can control all the Grimm and we're going to have targets on our backs now that we got that artifact."

"Blake," Weiss spoke up. "If you're waiting for the world to be a safe place you'll die of old age long before that happens. The world has always been dangerous and even if by some miracle we defeat Salem, all her Grimm and whatever else we'll face. New threats will most likely show up to take their place."

"She's right," Yang nodded her head. "There will always be danger Blake, that's why I think it's important to take every single moment of happiness we can get. We shouldn't live with regrets and yes there will be pain in the future but we've already been through that too."

"You have a right to be happy Blake," Ruby told her. "Yang lost an arm, Weiss nearly died today, we've lost friends but we're still here. We're still alive and we shouldn't have to be afraid to be alive. We're here for you no matter what."

"Guys…" Blake felt a stinging in her eyes trying to blink it away.

"Look I'm not saying just jump the guy or something," Yang shrugged. "All I'm asking is that you really think about your feelings here. If Sun makes you happy then you should go after it, hold onto it tight and never let go. If he doesn't then maybe you should tell him because it's painfully clear how he feels about you."

"He did travel half the world to make sure you were okay," Ruby grinned with a shrug.

"I suppose you could do worse than him," Weiss shrugged.

Blake's face soured at that as she sighed. "I have…guys one of the reasons I never thought about it was because of how my last relationship ended."

That got the girls interests as Yang jumped onto her bed grinning. "Ohhhh, I smell a story. So what's this ex-boyfriend's name and what happened?"

"I never told you guys but I dated…Adam," Blake winced knowing what was going to come. The silence was so thick you could hear a pin drop at that point.

The pure silence was shattered as Yang's eyes flashed red for a moment before she exploded. "You _dated_ that psycho!?"

"I didn't know he was when things started up!" Blake defended herself but then flopped back onto her bed looking up at the ceiling. "When I joined the White Fang I was a kid and it was back when we did rallies and demonstrations but I felt it wasn't doing anything."

"Adam actually recruited me into his faction that was supposed to be more 'proactive' in the fight for our rights."

Weiss wanted to make a comment on how acts of violence and terrorism were 'proactive' but kept her mouth shut on that point. They had been down this road once before and she knew that Blake wouldn't have done anything horrendous.

"I thought he was this great figure fighting for our rights, I thought he was passionate about our cause and he seemed interested in me. Then I started to slowly see how he really was, he was a person that was full of spite. He wasn't passionate just angry and wanted to hurt the world. So in our last operation together I left both him and the White Fang."

Blake sat up and looked at Yang, "That's also why he hurt you Yang because he wants me to suffer for what I did. Because I hurt him, he feels that he had to hurt me anyway possible. Including hurting everyone I'm close to or care about."

"Wow…he really is a psycho-ex," Yang felt like she had a bigger picture now of why Blake ran off that night.

"Yeah he is," Blake balled her fists. "I've been afraid of what he would do to those I care about after that night, that is until when we got here. I refuse to let Adam keep me afraid and I refuse to run away from him anymore."

"And we'll be here to help you beat the crap out of him if he ever shows up again," Ruby raised a fist to the air.

"Damn right," Yang flexed her robotic fist. "I got some personal payback coming his way."

"Well I have to say given that, Sun is a very large improvement over Adam." Weiss commented.

"Yeah, he is," Blake smiled a bit at the thought of him. Sun was the total opposite of Adam in every way she could think of.

Weiss yawned suddenly, "sorry. It's been a long day and I really need to sleep."

The others started to agree as they got into their beds. As the lights were turned off they lied there in their beds thinking their own thoughts. The quiet of the night was broken by Ruby that had to say the oddest of things.

"I miss the bunk beds." Their leader sighed.

Weiss smiled, "I kind of do too."

"It would feel more natural if we had them," Blake said next.

"Maybe we can set it up in the morning," Yang yawned. "I have no energy to go hunting for tools and rope."

"That reminds me," Weiss asked them. "Which one of you brought rope to school? You know the ones we used to help make the bunk beds? I never figured that out and I kept forgetting to ask."

"I actually found that in the closest," Blake supplied.

"Wait, it was just there in the closet?" Ruby asked her. "Like, someone just left it there in the room?"

"Maybe it was from the previous group that had been living in that dorm before us?" Yang shrugged although now she was thinking why they would have rope let alone just leave it in the closet of all places?

There was another moment of silence before Weiss let out a disgruntled groan.

"Now I'm going to be tossing and turning for the next hour thinking about that. I hate mysteries especially when there isn't an answer for it." She grumbled.

"Want me to tell you a story?" Roby offered. "My dad always did that to help me sleep."

"No." Weiss simply said.

Yang only smiled closing her eyes, it felt good to have everyone back again. She felt whole for some reason. When everyone had split up she hadn't noticed at first how it had left a hole in her life. Now though they were back together and she wanted to make sure they stayed together for a long time.

Suddenly she frowned thinking about Jaune and how he and his team still had a hole in their lives. She doubted nothing could help them with the loss of Pyrrha. She felt a bit guilty feeling better with her team together when JNPR would never be together again. Nora and Ren seemed to handle it better, maybe it was because they were partners and were so close that they could lean on each other for support.

If that was the case then who did Jaune have to lean on?

Back when she was recovering in the winter, Yang had never felt more alone. Her dad and sister tried to help but even then, they couldn't understand what she had been going through. Even with them in the house, she had felt so isolated and like she was alone in the world with her pain.

Could that be what Jaune felt sometimes? She hoped not, she wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone. That had been the darkest moment of her life, but slowly she had come out of it.

She stared at the ceiling thinking about it. She finally came to a resolution, if he did feel like that or if he did feel alone then she would help him out. She could be that friend he needed to lean on, their talk not too long ago might have been proof of that. At any rate she was going to wait until morning to see about that. First she was just mentally and emotionally exhausted and needed to sleep.

 **TBC…**


	3. Chapter 3: Plans over Breakfast

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 3: Plans over Breakfast**

Jaune stirred in his bed as the light of the sun woke him up. Blinking the sleep away from his eyes, he looked around. It always felt strange to sleep in strange rooms, it took him time to get used to it. He could see Nora sleeping on her bed, sprawled out like usual. Sun was no better with his long monkey tail twitching. He noticed the Ren's bed was empty but hearing sounds coming from the small one-person bathroom he figured Ren was already up.

He and Ren were always early risers so Jaune wasn't surprised by this. Slowly stretching out he got his clothing for the morning ready just as the door opened and Ren stepped out already fully dressed.

"Morning," Jaune yawned moving towards the bathroom for a morning shower and change.

"Good morning," Ren politely said to him in passing.

Jaune felt better after the warm shower getting him fully alert and feeling refreshed. By the time he got back into the room now changed into his usual clothing Ren had already finished making his bed. The two silently left the room not bothering to wake the other two. Nora was a heavy sleeper and apparently so was Sun so they left them to it while they worked on breakfast.

The two of them had usually been the ones to make the meals on their travels here, at least for breakfast. While Ruby was full of energy in the morning the poor girl's cooking skills were lacking. As long as she had someone helping her she was fine but after the first week it was silently agreed upon that she was not allowed to cook on her own.

As they made their way downstairs, they heard someone already in the kitchen. When they got there, they found Blake's mother already looking through the cabinets. The dark haired Faunus woman was bent over the counter looking at the items she had pulled from the cabinet.

"Mrs. Belladonna?" Jaune said as the woman jump with a start.

She had been so focused that she hadn't heard the boys arrive unfortunately when she jumped she banged her head on the open cabinet door. She hissed in pain as her hands went to her head.

"Are you okay?" Both boys urgently came to her aid.

"I think so," She winced gently touching the spot on her scalp checking her fingers. "No blood at least."

"You want me to get some ice for that?" Ren offered.

"No no, I think I'll be fine," Kali Belladonna gently rubbed her head. "My fault for not paying attention. Honestly there was a time no one could have snuck up on me like that."

Jaune suddenly got an idea. "Mrs. Belladonna if you don't mind I think I can stop it from hurting."

Kali was curious at that, "How so?"

"Well if you let me," He offered his hand to her.

She stared at it for a second not sure what he was getting at. She gently reached out and grabbed his hand, she nearly let go in surprise when suddenly a white light enveloped his hand and into her own. It took her a moment to realize she was seeing the boy's aura and not only that it looked to be going into her own.

Then the pain in her head suddenly started to fade away. When it was gone she reached up and did not feel any pain, in fact the injury wasn't there anymore.

Jaune let go with a shy smile. "It's my semblance."

"Well that is certainly a rare but very useful one," Kali rubbed her head in surprise. "Thank you. Now I believe you two are friends of my daughter's?"

"Oh right we didn't get to introduce ourselves with all the craziness last night," Jaune rubbed the back of his head. "I'm Jaune Arc."

"Lei Ren but you can just call me Ren," He nodded his head to her.

"Kali Belladonna," she smiled warmly at them. "What are you boys doing up so early?"

"We're kind of early risers," Jaune shrugged. "We were going to start breakfast for everyone."

"Well seems like we have the same idea," Kali sighed looking at the kitchen. "Although I was in the middle of trying to figure out where everything is."

"We can help with that," Ren smile at her. "We recently had to restock and know where everything is. We would be glad to help you out."

"Plus you're going to need it," Jaune smiled. "Some of our friends kind of have near bottomless pits for stomachs."

"Well then let's get started then shall we?" Kali make her way to the kitchen.

As they worked she noticed something that she couldn't help but see. They weren't uncomfortable around her, well maybe a little but she got the feeling that was because she was Blake's mother and had nothing to do with being a Faunus. The boys were eager to work with her and she came to opinion they were nice boys.

Given some of the harsh treatment some Faunus got at the hands of humans and even her own less than stellar experiences, these boys gave her a bit of hope that one day human and Faunus relations could reach a point where this was the norm. Where the two species could just live in harmony with each other, she knew that not all humans were bad. With recent events she knew first hand that not all Faunus were good either given the assassination attempt on her and her family.

"So you boys went to school with Blake?" Kali asked.

"Yes, our team and hers were very close," Ren told her as he worked on a stack of pancakes for Nora.

"We were right across from them in the dorm and we all pretty much hung out all the time," Jaune smiled remembering those simpler and fun filled days at school. He missed those times when the world was a lot less scary and painful.

"I'm glad my daughter made friends," Kali sighed. "She always did have a hard time socially."

"Well we were all and I think still are good friends," Jaune offered.

"That's good," she paused for a moment as a grin grew on her face. "So tell me, what can you tell me about how Sun and Blake met?"

 **-Upstairs-**

Yang groaned feeling someone shake her.

"Go away, still sleeping," she said turning over hoping to back to enjoying the bed.

"Yang breakfast is nearly ready, I can smell it from here." Her little sister said.

Yang groaned as her stomach decided to put its vote on either staying in bed or going to eat. She tried to refuse it but food was too tempting. Plus Ruby was still here trying to get her up, when she got like this it was hard to tell her to go away. So she got up wiping her eyes and yawned taking a moment to look around. Weiss and Blake were already getting dressed so at least the bathroom would be open.

"Alright I'm up just give me a few minutes to shower and change." Yang swung her legs to the other side of the bed and walked to the small bathroom. By the time she got out she found Ruby and everyone had waiting for her.

"You guys could have gone without me you know," She said putting on her arm and getting her clothing.

"It's been a long time since we went to breakfast together," Weiss shrugged she was wearing a set of sweat pants and workout hoodie and looked to be hating every second of it. She couldn't wait to get her dress repaired so she could wear something that was at least more to her standards.

"It will be kind of like old times," Blake smiled.

Yang smiled back, it felt so good to be back together. As soon as she was ready Ruby was out the door quickly, apparently her patience had run out. It was a good thing she hadn't used her semblance as she had nearly ran into Oscar in the hallway.

"Ahh!" Ruby cried out as she nearly collided with the boy. "Sorry! Sorry I wasn't watching where I was going!"

"It's okay," Oscar assured her. "I was just heading down, your Uncle said he needed a bit more time to rest though."

"Yeah that's Uncle Qrow," Ruby laughed. "He's not really a morning person."

Oscar walked in step with her as the group filed in behind them. "I'm surprised I wasn't up already. I grew up on a farm so I'm used to getting up early but after last night I haven't felt so drained. I think I went to sleep as soon as I hit the pillow."

"Oh my god last night was insane," Ruby sighed still feeling some aches from the fight. "But hey, we all came through and we won."

As they finished coming down the stairs they saw the food was already on the table for everyone to grab. What they also saw where Jaune and Ren sitting down and talking with Blake's mother as she was laughing at something the boys had just told her.

Kali was facing the stairs as she saw them all arrive and smiled at her daughter. "Blake what's this I hear about you and Sun going to a dance together?"

Blake paused as she sent a glare to her two (possibly ex) friends, just how much have they been talking and what else had they told her mother? At least the two looked a bit bashful from Blake's glare.

"Ugh don't remind me," Ruby groaned. "I hated that dress I was in, plus how in the world do girls walk around in high heels all the time!?"

"Practice," Blake and Weiss said at the same time.

"Are the others up yet?" Jaune asked them as they heard the sounds of more feet moving above them. It was soon followed by Sun who rushed down the stairs.

"Oh nice I didn't miss any of the good stuff," He grinned. "Wow nice spread."

"Well these boys were so helpful," Kali gestured to Jaune and Ren.

Heavy footsteps came as Ghira Belladonna came down, the large Faunas man yawned as Kali got up and got a cup of coffee she had prepared for her husband.

"Here you go dear."

"Thank you Kali," He took early took a sip, before he sat down focusing on his cup.

"My husband needs his morning caffeine," Kali explained to everyone. "He'll be functional once he finishes it."

It wasn't too long before everyone was sitting down and enjoying breakfast. Everyone was talking catching up or getting to know one another. All except for one girl that felt someone awkward being at a table that not too long ago she was fighting nearly half of them and would have been the enemy of the rest.

Ilia shifted wishing she could turn invisible instead of other colors at the moment. She just stared at her breakfast and focused on that.

"So you're one of Blake's friends right?"

Ilia internally winced as she looked up a bit nervously at the young girl across from her with the red hood. "Uh, yes I'm Ilia."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ruby. So if you don't mind, what kind of Faunus are you?"

"Ruby!" Weiss chided her.

"I just meant that she doesn't have any cute ears like Blake or a tail like Sun!" Ruby defended herself. "I was just curious I didn't mean any offence."

"I'm a chameleon Faunus."

"So does that mean you can turn into other things?" Ruby innocently asked.

Weiss sighed and rubbed her temples. "It means she can change color, not her shape."

"Oh thanks Weiss," Ruby turned back to Ilia now looking very interested. "Can you turn into any color? Like any color at all?"

Ilia blinked it was a bit odd for her as the girl seemed actually interested. She remembered how when she had been passing for a human at her school everything was fine. But the moment her colored had changed when she saw that news report about the horrible accident with the Faunus. After it was shown that she was a Faunus those co called 'friends' had abandoned her and everyone was hostile to her after that.

However, looking into the silver eyes of this girl she didn't see any of the malice she was used to from humans.

"If I know it I can change into it," Ilia shifted her skin tone to a light blue before changing it back.

Ruby's eyes got huge as she had on a surprised and yet eager look on her face, kind of like a child that found a new toy on her birthday. "That's so cool, can you turn into more complex things like polka dots or plaid?"

"Why would anyone want to be plaid?" Weiss's face scrunched up like she had smelled something horrible.

"Why wouldn't you?" was her partner's reply making Weiss roll her eyes.

"Uh…no it has to be a solid color." Truth was she had never tried but she was pretty sure she couldn't do something that complex.

"Well at any rate it's nice to meet you," Weiss nodded to her. "I'm Weiss Schnee."

Ilia jerked back out of instinct, "Wait…Schnee?"

Weiss sighed, "Yes that Schnee but I promise you I'm nothing like my father who controls the company nor do I hold the same views he has on Faunus. Frankly his handling of that issue has been barbaric and has caused nothing but problems for everyone."

"Oh," Ilia thought she could not get more stunned if she was hit on the head at that moment. Right there across from her was a member of the family that the White Fang have a kill on sight order for. As far as that group was concerned, a good Schnee was a dead one. She had started to feel a bit more open with this group but now she was feeling all tensed up again.

"Hey don't worry," Ruby could see the girl was getting uncomfortable. "We're all friends here and since you're a friend of Blake's that makes you a friend of ours."

"You do know that I was in the White Fang until recently right?" Ilia told them.

Both of them shrugged it off as Weiss spoke up. "So was Blake, we accepted her despite her past. She wanted to change and do something different with her life and regrets her past actions, plus she's proven to be a great friend."

Blake smiled seeing her old friend start to warm up to her new ones, she knew that Ilia had a lot of bad history with humans so it was good seeing how everyone was getting along.

After breakfast, everyone was in the living room it was time to get down to business it would seem. There weren't enough seats so some chose to sit on the floor or up against a wall. Blake's parents took the couch as her father started to speak with everyone.

"First I just wanted to say that I'm glad to finally meet the three of you," He said to Blake's team. "Blake's messages home always spoke about you three and I wanted to thank you for being such good friends with her."

"It is nice seeing her find such good friends," Kali smiled at them.

Ghira then got a bit more serious as he looked around. "Now we came here to stop the White Fang but the fact that they were working with humans is odd enough but it seemed you all were fighting this other group. I believe that there was a lot more to last night than what I and the authorities believe was going on."

It wasn't a question so much as a statement. There were too many unanswered questions and he believed that his daughter was mixed up in something dangerous. Call it instinct of a parent but if his daughter was in trouble to going to be in trouble he wanted to know.

Everyone looked at each other until it was Qrow that spoke up. "Okay I'll be blunt, I know the girls here filled in Blake last night on things. There is a lot of stuff you don't know but you should know that knowledge like this is damn dangerous. If you want to know I got to warn you, you can't go back after it."

"Blake are you getting involved in whatever is going on?" Kali asked her daughter.

Blake took a moment. "After what the others said and what I saw, yes. My team needs me and honestly this is so much bigger than I thought. The entire world is literally at stake mom."

"That settles it then," Kali took her husband's hand in hers and looked at Qrow. "We're in it if our daughter is."

"Hell yeah," Sun grinned getting a glare from the father but he sighed and let it pass.

Everyone looked to Ilia who was the only new member who wasn't told what was going on. "I'm in, if only because I feel I need to make amends plus the White Fang was used and I want to know by how and why."

"Alright," Qrow shrugged and looked to Oscar. "You're up."

They looked confused at the young boy who pulled out the cane weapon that had been used by Professor Ozpin. It was only Sun in the group that recognized it as he had been the only one that had seen the man with the weapon. He silently wondered how the kid got his hands on that when the boy's eyes flashed in this unnatural light as his whole demeanor changed.

"This is a long story," The boy's voice was strange like two different voices were talking at once before going back to normal but the style of how he talked was different. He sounded like someone so much older now. "You know me as Oscar Pine but I am also Professor Ozpin."

"Whaaaaaa…." Sun's eyes widened as it really did sound like Ozpin.

The whole story was laid out for them, the two gods that created their world, the bet between them and how people and the Grimm fell into it. He told them about his curse of reincarnation, the story of the Four Maidens and how he had been that old man that had given them their powers in the story, how it wasn't a story and in fact had actually happened.

Then he told them about Salem the leader of the Grimm and her desire to kill all live on the world for the dark god. How she used others like pawns in a secret war that had been going on so long it might have started before even recorded history. He explained how she manipulated others from the shadows, which allowed her agents to move freely. How they had been behind the fall of Beacon and had been behind the events of last night.

He explained everything.

"This can't be real," Ghira turned to his daughter. "Is it?"

"I haven't seen a lot but Emerald used an illusion of Salem to escape," Blake wanted to shuddered at the memory of that. The tall monstrous woman with pale skin like a Grimm's mask and those eyes, an image she knew that would be forever burned into her mind.

"Perhaps a demonstration is in order?" Ozpin looked to Qrow.

The man sighed, "I guess seeing is believing." He muttered.

Then in a split second where stood a man he had changed instantly into a small black bird. It flew around the room before making a circle and suddenly a man stood back there again.

"Oh my god," Kali covered her mouth. "You really did give him the power to turn into a bird."

"I see it but I don't want to believe it," Ghira sat back as the weight of if all slowly started to fall onto him. "Magic is real, fairy tales that are true, the Grimm have a leader this entire time, it just seems so much."

Ilia turned a shade of green, literally turned green that it. "I…I think I'm going to be sick, I feel dizzy."

"It is a lot to take in but please take your time," Ozpin told them. "Everyone has different reactions but I find taking a moment and letting your mind slowly accept it helps."

There was silence in the room as everyone tried to come to terms with everything. Blake noticed that Sun was looking and acting strangely. He was oddly quiet as he looked down at the floor. This was very uncharacteristic of him. Suddenly he got up and walked to the door leading out.

"Sun?" Blake asked him.

"I just need a moment," He said quickly as he just left. Blake blinked at this, this wasn't the Sun that she knew. Was something bothering him about what he had learned? It was a lot to take in but Sun was usually so carefree she would have thought that he would have just shrugged it off.

"Blake," Her mother said to her getting her attention. "I think you should go see him, something is obviously wrong."

Blake took a moment to think about it before getting up and following him. When she left the room got more silent until Ghira finally spoke up looking at the young man with two souls.

"So what do you plan on doing?" He asked.

Ozpin sighed and he closed his eyes thinking before saying anything. "At the moment we won a crucial battle and we've earned some breathing room. We will have to make our way to Atlas but with the boarder closed that will be difficult."

"Since we'd be picked up immediately if we flew we're thinking getting there by water," Qrow offered. "I'm going to have to check in with some contacts I have to see if we can get smuggled in."

"What are you odds of that working?" Kali asked.

"Honestly? Given the space of water between the northern tips of Mistral not that great," Qrow scratched the back of his head thinking of taking a sip of his canteen. "The larger the area of water the more of a chance we will have to being seen."

Ozpin nodded, "I do have a couple of alternatives. One being we try on Vital Island, the most northern island in Vale as it is closer. We could gain a boat there and have less travel time across the ocean."

"What's the other?" This time is was Ruby who asked. She and the others had stayed silent because they already knew everything going on but now that they were making plans for the future, she felt she needed to know. As the leader of her team, she felt responsible for them all so she wanted to know everything before going out again.

Ozpin sighed, as he looked like he liked the idea. "The only other place that is closer to Atlas would be on the north eastern tip of the Unclaimed Continent."

"You're talking about crossing the 'Dragon's Wings'." Weiss' eyes widened at that. The continent to the west of Atlas was usually referred to the 'unclaimed continent' because that's exactly what it was. The continent was the shape of a dragon with its chain of islands making 'wings' that nearly touched the continent of Solitas which Atlas was on.

"Has anyone actually gone that far there?" Kali asked worried. "There is no kingdom there and all the villages and larger settlements are on the southern area. The north is just mountains containing nothing but snow and ice."

"That is why it's a last resort," Ozpin told her. "While no one would expect to cross there it might be too dangerous a route to take. We would have no supplies but what we take, even if we take a boat along the edge if we ran into trouble we would be on our own. That area is still largely uncharted other than the coastal areas so we have no idea of the Grimm situation."

"Yeah which is why we'll shoot for here first and then Vital where we might have better luck." Ozpin told them all.

"What if we can't find someone to take us?" Jaune asked next.

"Well then we'll simply purchase a boat," Ozpin smiled at him. "Thankfully I have experience in sailing."

' _Wait we do?'_ Oscar mentally asked.

' _ **I have lived a long life,**_ _**there are many things I've tried and learned in that time.'**_ Ozpin answered back. _ **'Plus a few of my past hosts were sailors.'**_

' _Oh…makes sense. Were you ever a farmer like me?'_

There was a mental chuckle before his answer. _**'Oh a few times.'**_

"Well that's cool and all but do we even have the cash for that?" Yang asked him. "Those aren't cheap."

Ozpin chuckled looking at her. "In all my time reincarnating Miss Xiao Long, I have set up certain accounts. Those that I could access under different names, after all after my third…or was it my fourth life? Well it was a long time ago, the point is I quickly learned how hard it was to regain certain assets when I died and came back with a new body."

"At first they were secret stashes hidden among the world. Some of these still exist to this day but when banking was invented I switched to that."

"How did you hide accounts like that?" Ren was curious. There had to be some kind of trail, after all if he was using secret bank accounts since the beginning of banking there had to be some kind of trail or evidence until now?

Ozpin smirked, "well given that I helped create the banking system I made sure there were certain 'blind spots' I could use."

There was a moment of silence for that as it really just hit home just how old he was to do something like that.

"Does that mean I can get a raise?" Qrow joked, well half-joked. He hadn't gotten paid since Ozpin's death and had been using his own accounts to get them here.

Ozpin chuckled. "Maybe so, since we're in Mistral I can use the tower here to access the accounts I have, well the ones in Mistral at least. In fact it might be helpful to give you all some spending money, use it to help gather any materials you might need because you will need it for what's to come."

"Awesome!" Nora jumped up. "I smell shopping trip coming on!"

Ozpin turned to the three faunus in the room. "What are your plans?"

Ghira leaned forward as he interlocked his fingers thinking hard on it. "This Salem you said works in the shadows by manipulating events and people. She manipulated the White Fang to do her dirty work while they took all the credit for it. So she's been using them as a piece in this twisted game of hers."

Oz nodded as Ghira sat back up.

"I believe that there is only one course of action. We have to take back the White Fang, we were going to do that anyone but now we have another reason. We have to take it back from her so she cannot use it against anyone else. We have to remake it back into what it was, an organization for faunus rights but now I believe it should also be an organization to also help heal the rift between human and faunus."

Kali smiled as she held his hand, this was the reason she fell for her husband. He was a man that wanted what was best for everyone and he would move the mountains themselves if he could.

"Well you won't do it alone." She told him.

"An excellent goal," Ozpin nodded his head to them and then turned to Ilia. "What of you young lady?"

"I…I don't know yet…" she answered truthfully. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around this all."

Ozpin nodded his head again. "Then take your time, search your heart for the answer and follow it. It usually leads to best results."

"So now that we got a plan when are we leaving?" Jaune hesitantly asked.

"Not for a bit," Qrow sighed. "The authorities are still asking questions about last night and don't want anyone involved leaving just yet. Plus it will take time for me to see if any of my contacts can get us a ride and if that doesn't work we'll have to plan our next route out of here."

"In the meantime we should strengthen ourselves," Ozpin said to the young hunters. "We will face greater threats and we must be prepared for it. Young Miss Rose still hasn't unlocked her full potential of her eyes for instance and we all could use time to sharpen our skills."

"Cool," Yang smirked. "I was planning on helping Jaune with his hand to hand. Oh Weiss you think you and Blake could help him with his swordsmanship since I know nothing about swords?"

"I don't see a problem with that and I doubt Blake would either." She replied.

"An excellent start," Ozpin smiled at the idea. "I believe we call can learn a lot from each other in the time we have."

 **TBC…**

 **I couldn't find what that continent on the north west of Remnant is so I just made one up for now. If there is a canon name please let me know and I can edit that into this chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4: Past and Training

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 4: Past and Training**

Blake was wondering where Sun had gone off to, he was quick and had a lead on her so she had lost sight of him as soon as he had left the room. She was wondering what had bothered him so much, where he was going and what was going through his head. She paused trying to think of where he would go but she was coming up blank.

He always seemed to be able to track her down but when it was the other way around she found that she didn't have a clue where to start looking. Sun was always a fly by the seat of his pants type of person. She started walking again, she would search every room one by one and then start looking outside if she had to.

After awhile she heard it, the sounds of someone hitting something. She found herself in the small gym that was next to the dojo. It wasn't as big as the dojo but it had equipment for people to train their bodies in. Looking through the open doorway she could see the various weights but Sun was there hitting the heavy bag.

"Bastard!" Sun grunted out hitting the bag hard.

Blake blinked, she had never seen Sun this worked up before.

"Cowardly traitor!" Sun spat out hitting the bag even harder.

Something was seriously eating him up so she walked into the room. "Sun?"

He paused catching his breath but not looking at her, "Hey."

Sun went back to punching the bag again going into combos and making every hit hard. Blake was really starting to worry now as she walked up to the bag and saw his face. There was this dark determination in his eyes as he focused on the bag. She didn't like seeing him like this, this wasn't the Sun she knew. The one that carried a smile even through the bad times, the one that tried to make her lighten up, this was a Sun in pain.

He gently touched his shoulder. "Sun, what's wrong?"

Sun stopped but still glaring at the bag as his shoulders slumped.

"Lionheart," He simply said.

Now she was starting to understand, Sun came from this school and he had been his headmaster here. She mentally cursed herself she should have seen this coming but she had forgotten.

"I'm sorry Sun."

"You got nothing to be sorry for," He said giving a few light jabs at the bag. "But _him_ on the other hand, we looked up to him, hell I looked up to him. Now I find out that he betrayed hunters to this Salem person. Good men and women are dead now because of him, how many families lost loved ones because of him?"

"He was supposed to protect us, teach us but he betrayed everything to save his own skin!" He threw a hard right punch that knocked the bag away as he waved the hand in pain and hissed.

"Okay that's enough of that," Blake said taking his hand and looked at it. She gently bent it testing it out. "Any pain?"

"Not really," Sun sighed.

"This is really bothering you isn't it?" Blake asked him looking into his eyes.

Sun nodded his head, "Yeah."

He went to sit on a bench as Blake joined him as Sun flexed his wrist. "I guess to really understand you should know a bit about myself. You know I came from Vacuo originally right? Well originally I'm from one of the nomad tribes."

"You mean the tribes that go around the Vacuo desert?" Blake had heard of them but nothing much else.

Sun smiled thinking back on it, "Oh yeah. See the nomad tribes are the ones that travel from city to village, we trade with them and help deliver things. Sometimes letters, sometimes goods, it's actually a pretty decent living and very respectable in Vacuo since some towns rely on the trading with the nomads."

"I was found by one of them."

"What do you mean by found?" Blake asked confused.

"I was told that they found me alone in the desert," Sun shrugged. "Actually it was this monk Tang that found me. He used to tell me he found me in the shadow of a mountain just alone, barely older than a toddler."

"What about your parents?" Blake's eyes widened at the revelation.

Sun just shrugged, "No idea, I could have been abandoned or maybe a Grimm got them, sand storm, there's a lot of ways to die in the desert if you're not careful. Tang brought me back to the tribe and named me Sun. He was the closest thing to a father figure I had growing up. Well I won't go into full detail but growing up I was a handful."

He laughed remembering some of the fond memories. "I had these two other friends another faunus a pig named Zhu and there was this human kid Sha. Sha wasn't much of a looker and man he had a scary face but you know what, he had a good heart and was always a good friend."

"Anyways I guess wondering around the desert all that time gave me this 'wonder lust' as old Tang called it. He would see me looking off into the distance and would ask me what I was thinking. I would say that I wonder what's over there. He would reply that maybe one day I would find out."

"I think he knew that I wanted to see the world and there was really only one job that I could do that would let me do that."

"Being a hunter," Blake guessed.

"You got it," he grinned at her. "I remember that day we came to the capital, only been there a few times before that day. Well, Tang had a surprise for me, for years he had been saving up and got me into one of the combat schools one that I could board in."

Blake's ears flattened. "You have to leave them though."

"Yeah they had to move on," Sun's face fell a bit. "I remember being really scared, I've never really been on my own until then. Tang then told me something that I'll never forget."

"Sun, everyone has their own path to follow. Sometimes it will lead you away from home, from family, from friends. But that doesn't mean that you won't meet again one day down the road. You'll also meet new friends, make new family and find a new home. Life is always changing shape, day by day and we change with it. We are not the same today as we were yesterday and the future holds more possibilities than there are grains of sand in the desert."

"That's…kind of deep." Blake said.

Sun laughed, "He's like that a lot always saying things like that all the time. Still I didn't really get it until I came here. Anyways skip ahead to graduation and I could have stayed there but those words always rang in my ears. So I applied to here instead and when I was accepted I couldn't believe this place when I first got here. There's so much water and green here than in Vacuo that I just spent all day just walking around looking at everything."

Then his face turned a bit grim, "When we got here Lionheart would have a sit down with every new student to talk them. He said he wanted to get to know them personally, he told me that he knew every huntsman and huntress that graduated from Mistral on a first name basis."

He balled his fist remembering that meeting. "I liked him Blake. I thought he was a laid back and a cool guy. I thought, hey here's a faunus that's the head of one of the best schools, this is so cool…"

Blake reached out and gently took his hand in hers. "That's why his betrayal hurt you so much."

"Yeah," Sun looked at her. "In the desert you learn that you have to trust the person next to you because you're life depends on it. When I make friends I make them for life Blake. I trust them completely so when I heard about what Lionheart did…I felt betrayed and I mean like the guy stabbed me in the back himself."

Blake felt like she understood him better now, she had never asked about his past before maybe because she was too focused on her own issues at times. Maybe it was also because deep down she was still afraid of getting close to someone again. After Adam she really wasn't sure if she could trust someone again for a relationship.

She knew that Sun was nothing like Adam but the wound was still there inside of her.

Sun got up and stretched out, "okay I think I'm done with the depressing stuff."

Blake blinked, "Just like that?"

He turned to smile at her. "Old Tang always said that it's better to live in the moment and face the future instead of being stuck in the past. Now that's something he said that I can totally get behind. Yeah it really sucks what Lionheart did and I'm totally not cool with it. It's going to hurt for awhile but I'm not going to let that keep me down anymore than I have to. He's gone now and we have to deal with the mess he's made anyway."

Blake shook her head, this was just so…him. It was good to see Sun back to his old self again.

"I just needed to blow off some steam and talking it out with you helped," Sun told her. "That's usually how it goes for me."

"I'm starting to see that, still I'm glad to see you back to your usual self."

"What? Charming and good looking?" He winked at her.

Blake rolled her eyes, yes he was back to normal.

 **-Later that Day-**

Yang was walking towards the dojo, it was nearly time for her training with Jaune. Thankfully, she found exactly what she needed as she carried the equipment under her arm. When she got close, she could hear the metal on metal sound of swords hitting each other.

When she got there, she could already see Weiss and Jaune in a spar, looking around she noticed that Blake was leaning up against the wall her arms crossed as she was studying the spar intently. Yang went over to join her.

"How's our boy doing?" She asked her partner.

"We've been focusing on his style at the moment and refining it," Blake never took her eyes off the two of them. "Also teaching him a few more moves. He's got the basics down already so we're just building up on that."

"We can thank Pyrrha for that I bet," Yang smiled. She bet Pyrrha would be proud of how far Jaune had come so far. "So you're just sitting here watching while Weiss does all the work?"

"We switch," Blake replied. "I handle some things as my style is closer to what Jaune can use but Weiss is helping him with his finesse and precision."

"Makes sense," Yang shrugged although she didn't know much about swords she knew there were different styles. Like how there were different fighting styles, each one had strengths and weaknesses over the other. She could tell that Blake and Weiss had different styles but nothing too in depth.

There was a pause in the spar as Yang figured now was the time to get her training in. "Okay I think it's my turn, tag in ladies."

She held out a hand up high for Blake who just smirked with a shrug before tagging her. Weiss walked over and tried to ignore the tag but seemed to rethink it and just lightly tagged Yang's upright hand.

"Thanks for the help," Jaune said going over for a water bottle he had worked up a thirst after all that.

"You've showed a lot of improvement," Weiss told him. "I think with some more time we can get your sword skills up a bit more."

"Really? Thanks, I've just kind of been doing what I can on my own lately." Jaune took a large gulp of water as he took a small towel and wiped some sweat off his forehead.

"Well it shows," Blake then looked to Weiss. "Come on, Sun said he knows a place where you can get your dress fixed."

"Finally," Weiss groaned out. "I can't wait to get out of this grey track suit."

"Not your color?" Yang smirked.

"It's grey, doesn't fit and I look like trash in it," Weiss said evenly. "So no, not my thing."

Yang chuckled at that as the two left and then looked at Jaune. "You want a break first?"

"Naw that was actually the more intense part you just walked in on," Jaune told her as he put his sword back into its sheath and placed them down. "Mostly it was just working on my stance and a few positions and slowly practicing some moves."

"Well then if you're up for it take off those gauntlets and put these on," she tossed him a pair of fighters gloves. Not the large padded ones for boxers but the smaller combat gloves, while he got ready Yang did the same. She took off her coat and placed it along the wall leaving her with just her orange top on. She pulled tied off her long hair into a ponytail and then finally put on her flat punching mitts.

Jaune spared a look he had never seen Yang in a ponytail before, it was kind of cute on her he had to admit.

"Okay get into a fighter's position for me," Yang watched him and he raised his guard up like a boxer, which wasn't bad form from what she could see. Looks like Pyrrha really did put the basics into him. "Okay show me a left jab and then a right."

"That's it?"

"I need to see your form."

"Ok then," Jaune threw out a quick light jab with both arms.

"Not bad but don't forget to twist your wrist and hips like this," Yang demonstrated. "You get more power in your hits that way. Now try again."

Jaune did what she told him, well he tried it took him a few tries before he got it. Then Yang had him do it again and again to make sure he had it down. She worked with his jabs, crosses, uppercuts all the types of basic punches. After fifteen minutes they took a small break and Yang started up the next part of the training.

"Okay now that you got that down, it's time for combos. I'm going to call it out and you're going to react as fast as you can."

"Got it," Jaune took a breath as he put up his hands focusing on the person in front of him.

"Left-right-right."

There was a 'wamp-wamp-wamp' with each hit to the gloves.

"Left-Left-left!"

Wamp-wamp-wamp

"Right-left-left-right-left!"

She kept calling out shots and she was impressed with Jaune's concentration. So she decided to switch it up a little.

"Left-right-uppercut!"

Jaune paused for a fraction from the new command but thankfully, he managed to pull it off. He mainly paused because he wasn't sure what to hit but after the right jab, Yang had changed up how she held the gloves so he went with that.

"Remember to lean in slightly when you uppercut," Yang noticed the error.

"Sorry I was caught off guard from the change," Jaune scratched the back of his head.

"That's why I did it, you can't get complacent, now we going to throw in dodging. When I say upper right you're going to bring your guard of your right arm up to the side of your head because I'm going to try and whack you with the mitt."

Jaune paused for a moment, "Uh…how hard are you trying to whack me?"

Yang smirked at him, "Do bad and I'll do it hard, do good and it won't be so bad. So don't do bad."

Jaune gulped he knew just how hard she could hit. She explained the other guards to him as they did a small practice with each one to get him used to it. Yang wanted to make sure that he knew not only how to throw a punch but how to take it and how to dodge. She noticed that Jaune had this nasty habit of trying to tank all his attacks.

His aura being so high he could get away from it but from her own experience she knew that going straight ahead wasn't always the best choice. She wanted to make sure that he had options and wouldn't end up taking an attack that his aura couldn't save him from.

"Left-right-lower left!"

Jaune hit both and got his left arm down in time to feel Yang hit him there, thankfully she wasn't going all out but he knew that could change if he didn't take this seriously. He tried to focus as Yang called out more and more attack patterns. He found that she started easy but then she would ramp it up a little each time.

It was kind of like a memory gave only that if he messed up he would pay for the mistake. He would hit the gloves, block, pulled his head back in a dodge or sway his head to the left or right to avoid a straight. Sometimes he wasn't fast enough and could just feel the air blow past his skin or hair as he just missed him. That only helped him to double his efforts.

It was somewhat different from how Pyrrha had trained him. Pyrrha had been gentle and took her time with him while Yang however pushed him to see how far he could go but never too much. He could already feel the sweat starting to pool in his hoodie and sticking to his skin. His shoulders were starting to burn but he kept it up. His breathing started to get more labored as this went on but Jaune didn't want to quit.

Yang noticed this as she continued on, she had never really seen Jaune train before but he really threw himself into it full force. It was odd in classes he had trouble at times but here it was like he was more focused.

' _Maybe we're a little alike in that.'_ She thought. She always did learn better through practical means anyway.

As they continued, Yang would ramp up the difficulty as soon as Jaune started to get used to it. Although eventually Jaune started to tire out, his shoulders were starting to burn with the effort but he refused to back down. He would miss one of the combos and Yang would tag him, thankfully not very hard but the sweat starting to get into his eyes wasn't helping matters.

Yang noticed that he was starting to slow down, his reactions were getting slower, he was starting to fight for breath and she thought she saw him wince throwing a right hook. At that she put her gloves down.

"Jaune if you're feeling pain you better tell me now." She said seriously.

"I-I'm fine," He took the moment to wipe his brow but winced slightly.

"Okay we're ending it here," She took off her gloves. "Jaune if you're in pain you have to tell me."

"Won't my aura just fix it?" He asked taking off his own gloves.

"Eventually but that only helps with healing and any damage can build up over time." Yang signed. "If you push yourself too hard you can injure yourself which can also lead to hurting your training. The last thing you need is a chronic pain especially in your shoulders since you use them a lot with your weapons."

Jaune signed as he went to sit on the bench, "Sorry. I just feel like I'm still so far behind everyone."

She sat down next to him, "Jaune you've made a hell of a lot of practice for about what, two years worth of training?"

"Yeah it's been about that I think, pretty much when I joined Beacon is when I started to train."

Yang nodded. "Yeah and most of us have been training before we hit puberty. Hell my dad started my training when I was ten. So don't worry about catching up because at the rate you're going you'll get there. Just don't rush it or else it could sabotage yourself in the long run."

"Thanks Yang," He picked up his water bottle and rolled his shoulder. "I think you might be right about me pushing it."

Yang got up and sat on the ground. "Okay take it off."

"Take what off?" Jaune asked confused.

"Armor and hoodie and then sit down in front of me," Yang told him. "I'm going to help with your shoulders and I can't do it when them on."

"A-are you sure, maybe I can just ice them down."

"You can do that later but I need to see for myself just in case," Then she gave him a serious look and pointed to the floor in front of her. "So get over here buster or I'll make you."

Jaune flustered but he knew that she could do it if she wanted to.

'Why do I surround myself with super strong women?' he mentally thought before pulling off the armor.

Yang watched the white armor being pulled off but when he got to the hoodie she barked out a laugh. "Jaune, what the hell is that?"

"Not you too!" Jaune slumped over. "Come on, Ruby already laughed at my hoodie, I've had this the entire time you guys have known me!"

"We never saw the front because you always had armor over it," Yang laughed. On the front was an image of a bunny. Although one that rather looked familiar to her for a bit, it took her a moment to realize what it was. "Wait is that Pumpkin Pete?"

"Yeah I sent away for this, can we please not do this again?" Jaune moaned. He could still remember vividly how badly Ruby had laughed at seeing it. She had actually fallen onto her back in laughter.

"Alright-alright just take it off before I lose it again," Yang got herself under control. She wasn't surprised by this, it was just something that was just so 'Jaune' that she could totally see him having that on his hoodie. A memory flashed back to that first night in Beacon and him in his full body pajamas and shook her head. It seemed that no matter how much he grew or matured there would always be a bit of a child like nature to him.

She didn't consider that a bad thing, too often when people 'grew up' they became so serious they seemed to have lost the ability to have fun. Kind of like how Weiss was now that she thought about it. Thankfully her teammate seemed to have loosened up a little since that first day they all met. Her thoughts were pulled back as Jaune pulled off the hoodie and she could see his bare chest.

"Damn boy, where have you been hiding that all this time?" Yang smirked at the sight.

"W-what?" Jaune felt very exposed now from how intense she was looking at him. You would think that someone that grew up with seven sisters and had shared a room with two girls at Beacon he wouldn't get flustered in a situation like this but this was different.

First off, sisters didn't count. Second, he was used to sharing a room with Pyrrha and Nora plus it wasn't like the changed at the same time. They all used the bathroom to do that for privacy reason. He also wasn't used to girls looking at him like Yang was at the moment. It was like she was appraising him as her eyes roamed over his exposed skin.

"You just seemed more in shape than what I remember," Yang told him looking at his body. He had an average one when she first met him, not out of shape but not exactly physically active body. Now however Jaune had gained some muscles. He was by no means a body builder type, in fact Yang didn't really care for overly muscled men. Jaune was actually more to the type she rather liked.

He was athletic but slim, a bit bigger than a swimmers build although his muscles weren't as defined as say Sun's but Jaune was getting there. All in all it was surprisingly appealing to her, now that was a thought she never would have thought of when she first met him.

"I guess you really have been training, plus wearing all that armor has done you some good too." Yang smirked at him.

"Uh…thanks?" He shrugged a bit nervously.

"Well don't keep a girl waiting," she told him as he sat down in front of her looking away. Yang got to work gently probing the muscles of his shoulders. She could feel the tightness in her flesh hand as she slowly got to work. "Tell me if my other hand gets too rough okay? I still get some trouble being gentle at times with it."

"Sure thing," Jaune said feeling her fingers go to work. There were some moments of pain but they soon passed for a sweat release after. It was a bit strange feeling flesh and robotic fingers going to work. The silence as she worked was also starting to get to him a little. Here he was alone with Yang without a shirt on and she was touching him. Now he knew there was nothing to worry about, they were friends that was all, but he had to admit it felt good and the whole thing also felt kind of intimate in a way.

He needed a distraction and started to think of anything to talk about.

"Yang if you don't mind me asking, how does it feel to have a robotic arm?" He gently asked her not sure how much of a taboo subject it was for her.

She paused for a moment before she continued. "Okay if you placed a hand behind your back and at the elbow imagine having an imaginary arm. You can move it but you can't really feel it, wait maybe I can think of something better…oh I know. You know how you wake up to find out you slept on your arm?"

"Oh yeah I've done that a few times." He nodded.

"Well it's kind of like that, you can feel it there with your other hand but it's almost completely numb, plus you can at least move it instead of waiting for the numbness to go away first too."

"Ow!" Jaune winced from Yang's robot hand going a little too far.

"Oh I'm sorry!" Yang pulled back quickly.

"I-it's okay it was just a bit too forceful."

Yang signed, "Yeah I still got to figure that out. I broke several cups before I left, my dad had me picking up eggs with it until I learned how to be more gentle with the grip but I still need some more practice."

"Maybe you should juggle eggs next," Jaune joked. "I think we still have some in the kitchen."

She smirked and slapped his shoulder lightly with her flesh hand. "Well look at you learning to sass back to me. There was a time I remember you being too timid to try that."

"Well that was before I got to know you better," Jaune admitted. "Plus after everything, I think I grew a bit out of my shell."

"Well that's good then," she found a nasty area and started to work on it paying attention not to put too much pressure. "Just don't get all dark and brooding or else I think you'd lose your charm."

Jaune was curious about that last remark. "Charm? I think I pretty much proven with Weiss that my 'charm' isn't very good."

"Oh don't worry about that," Yang waved it off. "You were coming on pretty strong."

"I still don't get it, don't girls like confidence?"

"Confidence yes, arrogance no," Yang informed him. "You were coming on too strong for her plus she's most likely used to guys trying to charm her being the daughter of the largest dust company in the world."

"Oh right," Jaune had never thought about it like that before. He remembered how easy Neptune got Weiss to swoon over him and Neptune made it look so easy. He had to admit he was kind of jealous of that skill back then.

Yang suddenly got an idea that made her smirk. "You know if you still got the hots for Weiss saving her life might have given you the perfect opening."

Jaune was quiet a moment before shaking his head. "You know a year ago I would have jumped at that but Weiss is a good friend now. Plus I wouldn't feel right trying to take advantage of her nearly dying like that. I'm not really in the mood to date at the moment anyway."

Now Yang winced remembering what he had told her about Pyrrha and his own confused feelings on the matter. "Sorry I shouldn't have brought that up."

"No it's okay, I'm just not in the right head space ya know?"

Looking at her arm Yang sighed. "Yeah I think I know what you mean. I'm not sure how many guys will want to be with a cripple."

Jaune suddenly turned around to look at her, "Yang you are not a cripple, hell you're not even close."

"Relax there," Yang told him with a bit of a sad smile padding his shoulder. "I know but let's just say here while on the way there was a guy that hit on me until he noticed my arm."

"That's…that's insane, Yang you're one of the most beautiful girls I know." Jaune paused as he realized what he said and blushed hard. He quickly looked away embarrassed trying to think of what to say next.

Yang blinked in surprise before chuckling. "Oh so I'm beautiful huh?"

"Yang." Jaune groaned out.

"Tell me how beautiful I am Jaune," she teased him wrapping her arms around him and pulling herself close and whispered into his ear. "Just how beautiful am I?"

"I-Y-y-yan-I mean-uh," Jaune stammered trying to think it wasn't easy, not with her like this. She was pressed up against his back and he could feel everything. He could feel the metal of her arm and the skin of her flesh. The hot breath against his ear sent a shiver through his spine and worst of all? He could feel them, he could feel those round globes pressing up against his back and he was trying so hard not to focus on how nice they felt.

Suddenly Yang fell onto her back laughing and Jaune looked at her with a glare.

"I'm so glad that you're having fun." He said in a deadpan voice.

It took her a moment to gather herself, "I couldn't help it but you make it so easy. You just look so adorable when you get all flustered like that."

"Couldn't you use another word than 'adorable'?" He whined.

She sat up and shook her head. "Nope, it's like looking at a puppy."

Jaune only groaned into hand as he face palmed and he got up. "Well I think I'll go take a shower."

"Sure thing and Jaune."

He paused in getting his shirt wondering what else she was going to say but when he looked at her he saw that she was wearing her seriously expression. He had seen this a bit more ever since she rejoined them and it was easy to see the difference between it and her usual more carefree air she had around her.

"Thanks, for the beautiful remark and I really mean that." She honestly told him. "Sometimes it's nice to hear from time to time."

He felt his cheeks heat up slightly as he went to pick up his shirt and armor. "Don't let it bother you Yang. Hey Weiss has that face scare and I still think she's pretty, so don't let anyone tell you that you aren't just because of your arm."

Yang smiled gratefully at him as she got herself up. "Thanks I'll do that."

 **TBC…**

 **Don't forget if you like the story to leave a review behind, thanks to everyone that does. Helps keep me motivated to write this story.**


	5. Chapter 5: Plans and Dresses

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 5: Plans and Dresses**

Weiss wasn't sure this was such a good idea at the moment. She was walking down the streets of Mistral City with Blake on her side. That she was okay with, it was the fact that she was being led by Sun that she wasn't so sure about. Although she had warmed up to the faunus since their first encounter she still wasn't sure what to make of Sun. He always seemed never to take things seriously so when he said he knew a place that could fix the hole in her dress she was a bit skeptical.

Weiss mentally sighed as she really didn't have much choice in the matter. Granted the new funds from Ozpin would help out but this was literally the only clothing she had from home and getting good Atlas dresses would be hard. Not to mention even more expensive since the borders were now closed and that would raise the prices of any Atlas goods.

She tried not to think about what this was doing to her family's company, being the largest dust company in the world and now being totally cut off from all their businesses abroad was not going to be good. At least there were smaller companies that her father hadn't totally destroyed (yet) that could help with the demand. Dust was an important resource, it wasn't just in weapons but it powered all their technology. Dust prices would most likely be rising because of people being unsure if dust products could be transported safely these days.

Maybe she could get in touch with the companies that were not on Atlas as a way to try and gain control of the company on the outside. The problem with that idea was that her father would most likely place those loyal only to him in positions of power so the odds of her trying and succeeding in that were pretty low.

"Man I can't wait to show you guys around," Sun commented to them with a huge grin on his face. "I learned this place like the back of my hand, granted I only was here for a semester and a half but hey that's plenty of time to get to know the place."

"So now that the school is closed at the moment," Blake wondered out loud. "What's going to happen to all of the students?"

Sun shrugged, "Don't know. Haven't heard of anything I'm guessing they'll have to make a new headmaster and then things can start up. My team lives close by so they were going to show up soon for the start of the new semester, not sure what's going to happen with that now."

"Are they still coming or staying home?" Weiss asked.

Sun thought about it, "Well they said they were going to come as soon as I told them what's going on."

"Wait!" Blake grabbed his arm stopping him. "How much did you tell them?"

Sun looked confused until he realized what she was talking about. "Oh…OH! No I didn't tell them the entire story. I know how to keep a secret," then muttered how unlike a certain teammate could. "Anyways it would take forever to tell them and this is the kind of thing that needs to be done in person because they would never believe me."

"Should we tell them?" Weiss asked and seeing their reactions. "It's a big secret and honestly a lot to take in."

"Good point," Sun frowned and then scratched his head. "Well we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Always going with the flow huh?" Blake asked him.

"You know it," Sun grinned at her. "Oh hey here we are."

The store didn't look like much, in fact it looked like your average building around them. There was a sign that read 'Dragon Tailors' but not much else. Weiss wasn't so sure about this, her dress was finely made in Atlas but it wasn't like she had much choice.

"Well might as well get this over with," Weiss sighed to herself.

"Hey give the place a chance," Sun told her as he slide the door open. "It may not look it but from what I hear this is the best tailor shop in the entire city."

"Doesn't look too busy," Weiss commented seeing no one in the store except for an elderly woman by the counter.

"Oh there's a reason for that," Sun smirked at her as he led the girls to the counter. "Hey there, my friend here needs her dress fixed."

The old woman was wearing a green Mistral style dress with black highlights, it looked simple to Weiss but it did look well made at least. The woman didn't say anything as her faced was nearly expressionless, long white hair was tied up into a tight bun on the top of her head. Her skin looked weathered as the old woman stretched out her hand.

Weiss hesitantly handed the dress over. "I hope you can keep the damage to a-" she didn't even get to finish. With a blur of motion, she was gone in a flash that put Ruby's semblance to shame as the old woman rushed through a door behind her.

The door swung back and forth as the sounds of a sewing machine was heard before the sounds of scissors and other sounds she couldn't quite place. She wasn't even gone thirty seconds before she was suddenly back and placed the dress back onto the counter. Weiss and Blake blinked in astonishment as Weiss picked up her dress.

"I…I can't even tell where the stitching is," she proclaimed and she was looking very hard.

"Eh-hehehehehe," The old woman laughed the only thing she had said the entire time they had been in the shop.

Blake took a look at the woman more closely, "Do you have a relative that works a noodle shop in Vale?"

The woman didn't do anything other than pick up a cane that was leaning against the counter and picked it up and used it to point. Blake followed the stick and saw a picture on one of the walls. It was of the old woman but there was the noodle shop worker they knew from their time at Beacon. Not only that but there were a lot more members of this particular family of various ages but they all had similar looks.

"Huh…looks like she comes from a big family." Sun commented.

"Eh-hehehehehe," was the tailor's only response with a large toothy grin. She rang up the price and Weiss paid for it. She was glad she had some funds now at least but with the quality of work, she was expecting something more extravagant.

Weiss paid the woman as they left the store, "Well that went quicker than expected."

"So what do we do now?" Blake asked.

"I still need to buy some extra clothing and other items," Weiss sighed. "I only arrived with the clothing on my back and I could use some personal items as well."

"Personal like what?" Sun asked innocently as both girls gave him a look.

"Things I don't need you to know about," Weiss's cheeks flushed.

"Ah, girl stuff. Got it," he nodded not asking anything more. "Well I can at least show you girls to some stores that I know about."

"Thanks Sun," Blake told him.

"Hey I'm the one that's familiar with everything I should be the one to help you girls out finding stuff you need."

"Good then you can also help with carrying what we get," Weiss smirked as she and Blake walked ahead of him.

"Well how much stuff are we talking about?" Sun asked but didn't get an answer back. "Girls? Hey girls, how much stuff?"

 **-Elsewhere-**

Ilia was currently taking some personal space, after everything she had learned she needed a breather. She was leaning on a rail on the outside of the place they were staying at. She was just looking around not really seeing anything lost in her own thoughts. The world had suddenly become a very different place and she was still trying to figure out her own place in it.

She had done many things she was no longer proud of and she had no idea what to do about it. She no longer felt the righteousness of her cause and looking back on everything she was wondering how she had gotten to this point in her life? At first things in the White Fang seemed to be right but over time as things got more and more militant she wasn't so sure. Maybe she had always thought this but because she felt, she had nowhere else to go she had made excuses to justify everything.

Well she couldn't justify it anymore.

Ilia sighed as she just stared out at the city, she knew that the Belladonnas were checking in on the faunus that came with them. They were all in various hotels at least the ones that were staying because of friends or relatives that had been in the White Fang and had been captured. Those members were awaiting trails but those that were staying behind where were to help remind them that they weren't alone and there were people that would help them through this and wait for them for when they got out.

"Oh sorry I didn't know anyone else was up here," a voice caught her attention.

Ilia turned to see the young boy that apparently had two souls living inside of him. "I just needed some time to think."

"Yeah I, kind of get like that too," Oscar commented.

"You seemed pretty confident earlier."

Oscar shrugged. "That was mostly Ozpin, he's the confident one."

Ilia had to ask, she was curious about his whole deal to be honest. "How do you handle it all? I mean the whole truth and having another soul inside of you?"

"Well honestly, I don't always handle it." Oscar leaned on the railing next to her as he looked out at the streets below. "I was just a normal kid living on my Aunt's farm only a couple of months ago. Then all of a sudden I start hearing a voice in my head."

"That had to scary," Ilia commented thinking about that. "I would start freaking out."

"I was thinking I was losing my mind and I was going to end up in a sanitarium or something," Oscar sighed. "Then I also started to get memories."

"Memories?"

He nodded. "As he explained it to me, over time our minds will merge."

"So…will you still be you then?"

Oscar was silent a moment this was something he had long conversations with Ozpin about. It was a scary thought but he was slowly getting used to the idea.

"As Ozpin explained it, the curse works like this." He started to explain. "When the host dies their soul is sent into another person to be reincarnated in a way. Over time the memories will slowly start to integrate with that new host but the previous host personality will sort of fade into the background."

"I'll still be me but I'll also have all the memories and experiences of Ozpin and everyone else that came before him. So I'll be, well he explained it as I'll be more than what I was."

Ilia blinked as she tried to really wrap her mind around such a thing but it was somewhat hard to think how she would be in that position. She looked at the boy, at only fourteen he was pushed into a world that was dangerous and was forced into having such a weight put onto his shoulders.

"I'm not sure I could handle that," she told him.

Oscar shrugged. "Some days I'm not sure I can either. But Ozpin has been helpful and everyone else here has been too. If it wasn't for all of them I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to get this far."

"And you're okay with all of this? The whole trying to save the world thing?" Ilia asked.

"Well I think the world is worth saving isn't it?" He asked her with a small smile.

Ilia wasn't so sure at times, she had seen a lot of the bad things that happen in this world. Hell, she had caused some of those bad things. She had seen her people oppressed, used and abused but then she had cause her own amount of pain in the world to others some that might not even have had it coming. Ilia started to look at the street below though she only saw normal people, just regular people going about their lives.

She could see families about, people working or going to work, she saw someone helping another with packages. It was all just normal, up here she couldn't see all the dirt and grime of the world. Thinking back the world hadn't always seemed to be so dark, she could still remember the times when she had friendships, a normal school life, when she and Blake had been close friends.

Maybe there was something to fight for but if there was, how was she to do it?

"You know the other you said to follow my heart but I'm not sure what my heart wants." Ilia told him.

Oscar thought about it for a moment. "Well what are you choices?"

"My choices huh?" Ilia thought about it for a moment. "I'm not sure. Where does someone like me even fit in?"

Oscar was silent a moment before he had a smile. "I was just reminded that there is someone you know that was in a similar situation that you're in."

Ilia blinked at him, had this kid just have a conversation with Ozpin in his head? That was kind of freaky to think about but she knew who he was referring to. "I'm not so sure where I stand with Blake, there's a lot that I've done and I'm not sure if I should really still consider myself her friend after everything I did to her and her family."

"Miss Ilia," The boy's voice was gone as she saw his whole personality change. This was Ozpin now talking to her through the boy. "You remind me so much of how young Miss Belladonna was when she first came to my school."

"She was alone in the world and full of guilt just as you are. She was looking for a way to redeem herself to help the world instead of causing it pain." The boy smiled gently at her. "I like to think I was able to help her by giving her a place to feel she could belong. A place she could call a home of sorts and she gained friendships that I've seen strained but are now forged stronger than before."

"She's grown as a person through adversity, through friendship, through hardship and through laughter and pain. If there is anyone on this world that knows what you are going through then she would. I would suggest you go to her and talk."

Ilia looked away as she fidgeted. "There's…a lot of things I would like to say to her."

"Then say them my dear because sometime soon there might not be time for it later." Ozpin's presence left as Oscar blinked a few times. "That never stops feeling strange."

"What's that like?" She had to ask.

Oscar thought about it for a moment. "I can feel my body move, I can hear my voice and see but it's not me. It's like I'm watching a TV program but from inside my body and I can feel another presence there overlapping me."

"Wow…I don't think I got the words for that," she told him.

He nodded, "Yeah it's strange but given what he said. I think you should talk to Blake and not only that but the rest of them are pretty nice too. You saw how they were at breakfast with you right?"

Ilia thought about it, "They did seem nice."

Unfortunately so did her friends back in school before they found out her heritage.

Oscar saw her hesitation. "I don't know what happened in the past but I can tell you that they are good people. I only just joined with them but they've been nothing but nice to me. I'm sure if you just give them a chance that you'll start to feel like a part of them too."

"You really think so?" She asked him.

"I think so, maybe they'll help you make up your mind on what you should do." Oscar shrugged. "It's just kind of a feeling I got."

Ilia gave a small smile. "A feeling huh? Well I guess I'll give it a shot. Oscar, thanks. Both of you actually I think you helped a bit. I just wished there was something I could do."

"What do you mean?" Oscar asked.

"Well I've done a lot of things for the White Fang that, well I'm not proud of anymore." Ilia rubbed her arm. "I know helping with the bombs was a step forward but that was just one thing against so many bad choices I made in the past that I wish I could help out more."

"I feel like that night I actually felt like I was doing something, well good."

"You were saving the school and the tower from being blown up." Oscar said. "I think that is pretty good in a lot of people's books."

"Yeah I just wished there was more for me to do." She sighed with a shrug. "I was training to be a huntress to fight Grimm and help people but then I used all those skills for the White Fang. I thought I was helping my people but in the end I wasn't, not really."

"You could help with the training everyone is doing if you want." Oscar offered.

"I…might do that but what do I do after all that?" Ilia leaned on the rail. "What do I do with my life?"

Oscar's head tilted as thought listening to something. "Are you sure? I mean isn't that a bit much?"

"What is it?" Ilia asked him as he looked to be talking to himself but she knew who he was talking to.

Oscar looked hesitant to tell her at first. "Ozpin might have an idea that you can help with but only if you want to."

 **-That Night-**

The main Haven academy room was silent except for the few police officers that were on guard. With the huge hole in one of the walls the police tape that was covering it wasn't exactly secure. So the Mistral Police Force had to have guard duty here until the crime scene was cleaned up.

In the main office that had been Lionheart's door had been sealed. There was a guard in front of it as he yawned but so far all was quiet. The door had the usual police tape on it as well as a seal to show that no one had entered the room. The crime scene people were going to take the place apart in the morning so check for any evidence of what Lionheart had been up to or who killed him.

Another officer came up to him as his partner at the door sighed. "Took you long enough."

"Hey the bathroom is a long way from here," the other one said as he stood with him. "So you hear anything about what's going on?"

The first one shrugged. "Nothing more than what we were briefed on."

The second one looked around even though they were the only ones here. "I heard that Lionheart might have been with the White Fang."

"Seriously? Why the hell would he be a part of that group?"

"I don't know! I mean he was a faunus."

"Gods don't let anyone hear you say that we don't need bad PR on racist cops now."

"I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that maybe that's why people think he might have been. I heard the detectives are putting him as a suspect. Maybe because the plan to blow up the place didn't go off and they killed him as a loose end."

The first officer sighed. "Look we don't get paid enough to make jumps like that. We're simple cops, leave that crap to the detectives that's what their there for."

While this was going on outside the office, something else was going on inside of it. The office was in total darkness only the moonlight that filtered through the windows gave any kind of light. Still it would be hard for most to see a darkened figure slip in through one of the windows. The shadow moved cautiously towards the large desk of the headmaster.

A bird flew in behind her as it suddenly turned into Qrow.

"I'm part animal that and freaks me out every time I see it," Ilia whispered as her skin was as dark as the night making her blend into the darkness in her black clothing.

"Yeah well get used to it," Qrow looked around. "Damn it I can't see much in here."

"I can," Ilia moved towards the desk again, her faunus night vision let her see much better than a human in the dark after all. She got to the computer she was about to turn it on but then thought about the light. "Can you use something to cover the cracks in the bottom of the door? I don't want the light to get out."

"I got it," Qrow pulled off his tattered cape hoping that it would be long enough. He could hear two people outside the door as he moved silently from his years of stalking Grimm and certain criminals to quietly get to the door. He gently placed his cape over the gap seeing it done he gave the girl a thumbs up.

Ilia saw it and turned on the monitor, she blinked as the blinding light took away her night vision as she tried to adjust. She pulled out her scroll as she linked it up to the computer. "Hacking into a dead man's computer isn't what I had in mind when I thought about trying to make up for my shady past."

"Yeah well not the fist shady thing I've done either," Qrow told her as he wished he could turn on a light to check out more of the office.

"Why can't you do this?" She asked as she started to put in the password she was given by Ozpin. Apparently he had a backdoor program into the headmasters computers, apparently there was a secret section of the computers that the headmasters had for things like the Maidens, and who knows what else.

Ozpin thought that if there were any links to Salem then Lionheart might have kept them there. Apparently during the battle one of Salem's people had let it slip that he had been reporting for some time to Salem. So maybe there was some kind of record on what and more importantly who he had contact with. Ilia knew how good intelligence could make an operation go good or bad and they had no idea how many people were under Salem's control.

The password she was using was something that Ozpin had slipped in. Since he had started the academies and set up these systems he had placed backdoors into them just in case he needed to get access. Apparently, a long life made you either plan in advance or made you paranoid. Maybe it was both she wasn't sure but her scroll linked up as she started to download all the files.

"I'm not exactly tech friendly that's why," Qrow whispered to her. Sure he could use a scroll as well as the next person but he didn't know how it worked in detail. He didn't even own a computer himself plus there was always the chance his semblance might act up. His bad luck had made things more difficult at times and it was a good thing to have a partner for things like this.

He looked at the stack of books as his night vision was slowly coming to him, he ran his hand along them wondering if Lionheart might have put something inside of them but he doubted it.

Ilia watched the downloading bar and wondered if she should delete everything on the computer. There were safety programs in place that if the wrong code was entered the entire thing would fry itself, she had no idea how sophisticated it was but Ozpin was certain it wouldn't be hacked by the police. She could only imagine what would happen if things like the Maidens, Salem and who knows what else got out.

The truth still freaked her out but she was seeing the world in a whole new light. All this time there had been a war going on, a war for the survival of the entire planet with one man to hold against the armies of Salem, how did someone carry that kind of burden without going insane?

Now all that burden was put onto the shoulders of a fourteen year old farm boy.

How many times had this happened? What was Ozpin when he first awakened before Oscar? What about the time before that and the time before that? How many times can you die, be reborn, live, fight, die and repeat? Thinking about it, now she was starting to understand why Ozpin called it a curse.

The bar stopped as she had all the information so she closed her scroll, she hoped that Ozpin and Qrow could find something. They had no idea who or how many people were working with Salem at this time so any lead on what to look for or who to look out for would be a help.

Or it could have all been a dead end but still it was worth at least trying.

Ilia closed down the computer. "Okay we're done here."

Qrow nodded as he had pulled a book out and looked at her. He nodded and placed the book back or at least he thought he had. He was moving to get his cloak back when the book slowly tipped and then fell with a loud bang on the wooden floor. Both of them froze as Ilia slowly looked at him with wide eyes that just said 'what did you just do!?' as she locked eyes with him.

He mentally cursed his semblance as he heard the cops outside.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah did someone get in?"

"Not by use, maybe the windows?"

"Damn it, open the door!"

Qrow waved the girl off and she jumped out the window as he quickly tugged his cloak free and turned into a bird. The police opened the door to get a face full of feathers as what looked like a normal crow to them flapping in their faces.

"What the hell!?"

"Ow! Damn it I think it clawed my face!"

"Get lost you stupid bird!" one said waving his arm at the bird flapping in front of them.

They looked to see the bird fly out of an open window and out into the night.

"Close that damn window while I look around," one of them said and flipped on the light. There didn't seem to be anything or anyone else hiding in the room. The only thing he saw was a book on the floor.

"Stupid bird must have done this," he muttered placing it back in a gap as his partner closed the window and made sure all the windows were secure just in case.

 **TBC…**


	6. Chapter 6: A Step Closer

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 6: A Step Closer**

Ruby yawned as she descended the stairs for breakfast, after training, she had spent the afternoon taking apart her weapon and cleaning it, then adjusting it and sharpening the blades. She loved Crescent Rose like it was her child but the weapon was very high maintenance. All those moving parts, cleaning the barrel of dust residue alone took a good amount of time. But she liked doing it, it was calming and now her weapon was in tip top shape.

"Oh that looks good," Yang grinned seeing the breakfast.

"Mom always did make great breakfast," Blake smiled seeing her mom along with Ren and Jaune finishing up. "Although I'm starting to feel bad for not helping out."

"Well we can clean up at least," Weiss shrugged happy to be finally back in clothing that was more her style. After the shopping trip, she felt a bit more at ease with the supplies they had gotten.

Ruby then stopped near the end of the stairs seeing someone on one of the couches laying on it and still looked asleep.

"Has Oscar been down here the entire time?" She asked looking around.

"He was down here when I got here," Blake's mom said looking at the young boy. "I think he fell asleep but I didn't have the heart to wake him."

Ruby went over to the boy as he was on his stomach, his face resting towards the table. She looked to see a scroll there. She picked it up but it was locked, with a shrug she placed it back down and gently rocked the boy.

"Oscar, hey Oscar breakfast is ready." She said gently.

The boy groaned but only turned around. She tried again as his eyes opened; they looked a bit red as he yawned. "What time is it?"

"It's morning," Ruby looked a bit worried at him. "How long were you up for?"

"Pretty late," he sighed and slowly shifted to a sitting position. He barely got any sleep and felt like crap because of it. "I was going over what Qrow and Ilia got last night."

"Wait, what happened?" Blake asked hearing this.

"I helped Qrow get some files from Lionheart's computer before the police started to take everything today," Ilia explained.

"When where you going to tell us this?" Yang crossed her arms given that there weren't supposed to be any more secrets.

"This morning," Oscar yawned again. "We were hoping that Lionheart might have kept confidential files on anything related to Salem."

"Did you find anything?" Ruby helped him to the table as Oscar fell into the chair.

"A name kept coming up for meetings," Oscar blearily looked down at the table. "Watts."

"That a first or last name?" Weiss asked next.

"No idea," Oscar looked like he wanted to fall asleep at the table as his eyes were blinking slowly.

"Oscar do you want to go to bed?" Kali said worriedly at the young boy.

"No it's okay the cat's got it with the salad." He muttered at her.

"W-what?" Kali blinked at the answer.

"Okay I think he needs some sleep," Ruby got up and helped to guide him back to the upstairs rooms. "Save me some of the good stuff while I help him to bed."

"Of course," Weiss told her partner.

Ruby gently led the boy up the stairs as she wasn't sure how awake Oscar was at the moment. She was wondering why Ozpin wasn't taking over and letting Oscar rest but maybe Ozpin was tired as well. Ruby had no idea how this whole thing worked between them but there did seem to be a limit to how long Ozpin could remain in control.

She passed her uncle on the way to the room as she explained what she was doing. He shrugged it off and let her do her thing. Ruby opened the door as she led Oscar to his bed, at least she was pretty sure it was his bed. It was the only one that was tidy and the messy one would most likely be her uncle's bed.

"Come on Oscar," She told him pulling back the covers for him.

He muttered something she didn't get as he fell onto the bed face down. She smirked as she decided to help him get his shoes off at the very least. She looked at him and wondered how comfortable he could be sleeping in his clothing but she immediately knew that there was no way in hell she was taking anything more off him. That wouldn't be right and what if he woke up? How would she explain that?

Feeling her cheeks heat up a bit she shook her head and pulled the covers back up. She pulled the curtains to make sure the sunlight didn't wake him. She suddenly heard him mutter something as her attention went back to him.

Going a bit closer she wanted to make sure that he was actually asleep but he looked to be talking in his sleep.

"Gloria go…we'll defend the pass…vital…Grimm…I'll see you soon…get…Vashton…"

Ruby wasn't sure what he was talking about the only thing seemed to be about the Grimm which was a common thing in this world where monsters lived. She gently stroked his hair as he seemed to settle slightly. She remembered dad saying this was how mom would calm her down in a nightmare. She wished she had more than just vague memories of her mom but her mother had died when she was very young.

As Oscar settled in, she quietly left the room, as she made sure to make as little noise as possible until she reached the stairs. As she got down, she noticed that her uncle was gone.

"Hey where's Uncle Qrow?"

"He said he was going to start looking into a boat for us or some other way into Atlas," Yang told her. "He said not expect him for a few days at least."

"Oh," then she noticed Blake's and dad were cleaning up what looked like a spill. "Something happen?"

"It was the strangest thing," Kali spoke up. "I was just bringing coffee over and the cup broke in my hand. Only the handle was left and the rest smashed against the table."

"Never seen anything like that," Sun nodded his head. "I mean what are the odds right?"

"Oh." Ruby said flatly as she looked to Jaune, Nora and Ren with a knowing look.

The others picked up on it as Yang looked to her sister. "What's going on?"

"It was Uncle Qrow's semblance."

"Wait you know his semblance!?" Yang shot up. "We've been trying to get him to tell us that for years and you already knew and didn't tell me!"

Ruby blinked as she got an embarrassed look on her face. "Oops…I guess we skipped over that." She tried to laugh but it just fell flat.

Yang crossed her arms, sat down, and gave her sister a hard look. "Well?"

"Oh uh, well the thing is Uncle Qrow's semblance is actually luck based." Ruby explained. "Only it's bad luck and he said it builds up over time or something like that so bad things tend to happen around him. I guess that's why he's never in the same place too often or when he visited us he didn't stay for long."

Yang was surprised although looking back on it, what Ruby said made sense. Qrow never really stayed around for long periods. In fact, she remembered some odd things happening when he was around now. When she was showing off her bike for the first time, she had gotten a flat one second after starting it up. "Huh, that explains some things."

"Wow talk about an unlucky semblance," Sun commented earning a slight kick under the table from Blake sitting next to him. "Sorry I didn't mean it to sound so, well mean."

"I think he would just laugh it off," Ruby told him with a shrug.

"So how's Oscar?" Nora asked as she poured herself a very healthy helping of syrup onto her favorite food among foods, pancakes.

"He fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed," Ruby sat down starting on building her own breakfast plate. "He was talking in his sleep too."

"Anything juicy?" Yang grinned.

"Really Yang?" Weiss rolled her eyes. "He's like fourteen."

"Hey boys grow up fast plus he does have a lot of memories too," she defended herself.

Ruby wasn't sure what her sister was talking about but she thought back to it. "It didn't make any sense to me. He said someone named Gloria or maybe it was Glory, something about defending a pass, Grimm and a word, Vashton?"

Kali, Ghira, Blake, Weiss all suddenly looked to Ruby.

"Did you say Vashton?" Weiss asked.

"Uh…yeah why?"

"It was a famous battle against a horde of Grimm," Ghira thought back to it. "It was several centuries ago. A small town called Vashton was about to be overrun with Grimm but they were taking a small enclosed valley to get there. Five warriors stood their ground giving the people time to flee."

"Oh so they stopped them?" Ruby looked excited.

"No, they died," Blake told her friend. "They were a mixed group, even a faunus was in there but they fought to the last. Everyone in the village lived but they didn't."

"The names of The Five were forgotten by history," Weiss said next thinking back on it. "They were just known as The Five and the survivors called them heroes and they eventually became legends."

 _You want to play the hero? Then die like every other Huntsman in history!_

Roman's words suddenly came back to her from that night on the airship. She paused to look at her plate. Had he been right about that? Is that was happened to heroes in real life? Before Beacon she would have said all heroes live and win the day but after that night. After losing two of her friends, her team shattering, Yang losing an arm she wasn't so sure anymore.

"So does that mean that boy was there?" Ghira mused to himself. "Remarkable. He could actually remember who The Five were."

"He might have been one of them from the sounds of it," his wife shook her head to think that there was someone alive who actually remembered legends and heroes from their world's history. Who knew who else the boy had been previous or known in a past life?

"Man, Ozpin really got around," Nora chuckled.

 **-Later-**

Yang was in the gym on a bench press with Nora spotting her, the two girls were doing some physical training at the moment and Yang was pushing hard on the bar in her hands pushing it up as Nora's hands were hovering just under it.

"Almost there, come on push deep! Show those weights whose boss!" Nora encouraged.

Yang with one last push placed it onto the small metal hooks. She let her arms drop with sigh as she felt the burning of her muscles. Her orange t-shit was sweaty and she needed a breather.

"Nice one," Nora had finished her set before Yang so she had recovered first. She went over to grab Yang's water bottle and passed it to the blonde who eagerly took it. "So how does it fell with the new arm?"

Yang shrugged, "Basically the same only it doesn't get tired or worn out like the rest of me, I do have to adjust in some things since it makes me feel kind of 'lopsided' at times when I'm pushing myself."

She sat up to take a towel on the ground and wipe away some of the sweat that had built up. It had been a long time since she got in a decent workout like this. Training in battle was all-good but you had to train your body as well and she hadn't been able to do much while on the road after leaving home.

"So what's next on the agenda?" Nora asked stretching out.

Yang picked up her scroll that was set aside to check the time. "Well it's nearly time for Jaune's hand to hand lessons."

"Yeah I guess I could use a little of that too," Nora grinned. "But then I got my Renny to help me in that, oh maybe I can learn awesome ninja moves and how to walk in shadows!"

"I don't think Ren knows how to 'walk in shadows' Nora," Yang smirked.

"You never know! He could and we just never see him because he can," Nora grinned back at her.

Yang shook her head she missed handing out like this, Nora while a bit on the crazy side was a good kind of crazy that Yang could get behind. Plus she was one of the few people that could keep up with her, hell sometimes Nora was a challenge to keep up as the girl never seemed to tire most days.

"So Nora," Yang spoke up. "I've noticed that you and Ren have been a bit closer, closer than I remember at least."

"Oh that," Nora scratched the back of her head and Yang was surprised the girl was actually quiet for a moment. "Well some things happened on the way here."

"Good things?" Yang grinned.

The red head actually blushed as she waved her hands frantically in front of her. "No-no-no! Nothing like that, it's just…well. We've always been together, just not together-together."

"And are you together-together now?"

"Ehhhh, closer but not there yet?" Nora shrugged.

Yang blinked not sure what that meant. "Okay Nora I'm going to ask this, do you like him?" She cut her off before she could answer to continue. "And I don't mean how you always liked him. I mean like-like, as in boyfriend and girlfriend like."

Nora sat down on a bench and looked at her shoes. "Yeah."

"So why haven't you gone and done something?" Yang asked gently sitting across from her.

The girl just shrugged, "When we survived the destruction of our village he was all I had, literally Yang. He was the one solid rock I had, he saved me that night and I just feel safe when I'm around him. I feel like everything will be okay as long as Ren is there."

"He was also my best friend and still is, we've always had each other's backs growing up and then one day I started to notice that my best friend made me feel…other things."

"I started to feel more than just friendship with him and on the way here we kind of, I don't know. Sometime we just feel things instead of speaking them but I'm still not sure where we stand."

Yang looked at her friend and again thought back to how Jaune and Pyrrha had ended, how Blake was hesitant about Sun. She didn't want to see her friends waste potential at happiness because she knew that it could be gone in a moment.

"Well maybe you should just come out and do something about it," Yang offered.

"You think so?" Nora had wanted to do something for a while now but things kept happening. They didn't really have time to talk since they had left the remains of their village with Qrow near death from that poison. They had no time since they got here with everything going on in fact this was the first kind of break they had in a long time.

"Hey it would be nice to see at least one couple getting together," Yang shrugged. "Given how Blake is about her feelings it's hard to say if she'll admit she likes Sun."

"Tell me about it," Nora laughed. "It's so obvious she likes him but it's like she doesn't want to admit it."

"Might be because of how bad her last relationship went," Yang sighed remembering what Blake told them. Honestly Blake, Adam of all people? Talk about bad choices in life.

"Well whatever you choose to do Nora take some advice," Yang got up as she packed up her stuff. "Don't wait too long, I don't want what to happen between you happen between Jaune and Pyrrha."

Nora's eyes widened a bit as she looked down at the memory of her friend. She had always suspected that Pyrrha had feelings for Jaune but she figured things would work out over time. It never did work out, in fact the worst outcome had happened. During that fight with the Nuckelavee things had gotten too close to one of them nearly dying from that creature.

Then she remembered their last fight and how in that, Weiss had nearly died.

"I think it's time Ren and me had a talk," Nora said.

"You sure?"

Nora looked up at the blonde and nodded with a determined look in her eyes. "Yeah, I think it's time."

Yang broke out into a large smile, "Go get'im girl."

She was happy that something good was going to happen as she left for the dojo. It wasn't a far walk and she could hear the clang of metal. She slide open the door to see Weiss and Jaune sparring with their swords.

"Remember keep your balance," Weiss thrust with her weapon as Jaune parried and countered.

"Right," He watched as she dodged the blow with the usual grace she had. She slashed at him as he used his shield to stop it and thrust with his own blade. Weiss turned her body so that the blade passed by her within inches and with a flick of her wrist sent her blade to his throat.

"You over extended," she calmly told him as they pulled back.

"Yeah I've been noticing that," Jaune sighed it was an issue had had been finding out in his sparing sessions with her. "I'm also not used to fighting someone left handed. The reach feels strange for some reason."

Weiss nodded her head, "Yes well given that most people are right handed you don't get much experience with it and it tends to throw your opponents off."

"Same thing happens in boxing or any fight with punches," Yang offered as she entered the room.

"Oh is it time to switch up?" Weiss had lost track of time as she and Jaune went to the benches to get water and wipe off any sweat that had accumulated.

"Yep, so no Blake today?" Yang looked around.

"She'll be training Jaune tomorrow," Weiss explained. "At the moment she's with a group session outside with Ren, Ilia, Sun and herself."

Yang thought about that, "Huh, so pretty much all our ninja types together. Man that should be interesting."

"Ninja types?" Jaune asked her after finishing his drink.

"Well Sun would be more of a Rogue, Ren is basically a ninja, Ilia I guess would be more like an assassin and Blake…hmmm. I'm thinking spy or infiltrator." Yang thought it out.

Both Weiss and Jaune blinked at the girl not sure how she came up with that.

"What?" Yang asked with a shrug. "I had a friend in Signal that was into RPG table top games and I picked up a few things by being around her."

"You ever played?" Jaune asked curious now.

"Once," Yang paused. "It…didn't go well. I stick to board games and card games rather than that stuff."

"Don't remind me about card games," Weiss groaned. "What was that thing we played back in Beacon again?"

"Oh yeah I remember now," Yang smiled at the memory of them using the library to play Conquest of Remnant. "You're just mad because you lost."

"I didn't even know how to play!" Weiss defended.

"Maybe we should make a game night," Jaune commented offhandedly.

Yang's eyes lit up at that, "Oh! We're totally doing that, we can't just train all the time. We got to have some fun sometimes or else we're just going to go nuts."

"As long as it's not that game again," Weiss muttered putting away her sword. She paused as she looked to Jaune. "You're getting better you just need to stop rushing and take your time."

"Thanks for this Weiss," He said honestly.

She nodded and then cast a look at Yang, she wanted to say something but wasn't sure if she wanted to do it with someone watching. Well given how crowded the place was having a quiet moment wasn't exactly easy. She took a breath and looked Jaune in the eyes.

"Jaune I never properly thanked you yet either." She told the tall boy.

"Thanks for what?" he asked confused.

She rolled her eyes, "For saving my life Jaune."

"Oh that, Weiss I would have done that for anyone especially my friends."

"Still I owed you and a Schnee always pays their debts and I still owed you a thank you so," She stood up on her toes because of his height and gave him a kiss on his cheek. The boy's face blushed as he stared wide-eyed at the girl.

"That was platonic so don't get any ideas," she warned him.

"O-oh, right," he stammered as he scratched the back of his head.

Weiss nodded as she quickly left but Yang caught the slight blush on the girl's face most likely because she knew that Weiss wasn't used to showing displays like that especially with witnesses.

Yang grinned at Jaune who looked to be still a little shocked. "You might actually have a chance, you want to give it another shot going after Weiss?"

That pulled him out of his thoughts and shook his head, "She said it was platonic."

"Eh, girl's can change their mind you know."

Jaune paused; he would be lying if he said there was a part of him that wasn't thinking it. He had been after Weiss since they first met although after enough rejections he gave up on it and just settled for being her friend. Still that younger part of him was slightly hoping that Weiss might like him more than just a friend.

As he thought about it, some more he sighed and shook his head. "I don't think so. Weiss will always be my first major crush but I think I just prefer to be her friend for now. Man if the younger me could hear me now…"

Yang grinned, "He most likely would be pulling his hair out."

"Maybe even screaming to the heavens," both shared a small laugh. "Besides I think we both grew up a little and changed a bit. We're not the same people we were, man it's strange how fast you can change in such a short time. It feels like a lifetime ago but it wasn't even a year."

Yang nodded her head although she felt she was doing well with Nora and Ren so maybe she could put this on the back burner for now. "Alright put the sword and shield away, we're going to put into practice what you learned yesterday."

"You got it," He grinned doing as she said and then joining her in the center of the room. He put his guard up like she had showed him.

"Okay we'll start off slow and move faster but again, any mistakes and I will tag you. No gloves this time so get ready." Yang put her fists up shifting her feet and getting herself ready. She could see the intensity in Jaune's eyes as he readied himself she found that she rather liked that look.

He had definitely gotten a bit more confident in battle since school.

So she decided to test him out to see what he learned from yesterday. She started out slow as she didn't bother to call out her blows, what would be the point as it's not like the enemy announce their attacks like in certain animated shows. Then again her team did have attack names that Ruby called out now that she thought about it. But those were code words so the enemy wouldn't know what was going to happen to them.

She tried to gauge Jaune's reaction time, it seemed pretty on par to what he did yesterday. So she started to try to go with simple combos to see how he handled it. She was happy to see that he kept his guard up and followed through with counter hits.

They didn't get a solid land on her of course but she was still happy he wasn't going on just the defensive for this.

They continued on but Yang felt that maybe it was time to give him something heh wouldn't expect to liven up the training. She waited for a combo she had used before but instead of the final punch she suddenly threw out a side kick as Jaune on instinct blocked it as he jumped back.

"Hey you never said you were going to throw kicks!" he challenged her.

"Never said I wasn't either," Yang smiled at him. "You think the bad guys are going to tell us how they're going to fight and what they're going to throw at us?"

"Okay point taken."

They went back at it as Yang would throw in a random kick or would pull her punch at the last moment to fake him out only to come at him from a different angle. Jaune did his best to keep up but she was fast and as they kept going she only seemed to get faster. It wasn't until the sweat dripping from their brows were getting into their eyes did the two of them stop for a moment.

Both combatants took a break, Jaune felt his lungs working to just suck in enough air for his body. Yang had always been one of the strongest of their year and she hadn't slowed down some. He was always amazed at her strength and even now as he looked at her he could tell she wouldn't go down easy. She was breathing hard, sweating but still her guard was up perfectly and her eyes bore on him, looking for any hint of an attack and judging for any weaknesses.

He suddenly was reminded of his lessons with Pyrrha, she had been calculating and methodical. Yang on the other hand was more passion and explosive. There was a hint of her being slightly more planning now, at least to him it seemed so.

Jaune could feel that she still had energy to burn but he kept at it as he pulled his arms up back into a fighting stance.

"Oh sorry I didn't know anyone else was here," Oscar's voice was heard from the doorway.

The two blondes paused looking at him.

"Oh hey you're up," Yang smiled at the young boy as both she and Jaune relaxed and took a more normal stance with each other. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah much," Oscar scratched the back of his head. "I was looking to see where everyone was I didn't know you two were already training."

"Yeah Yang's helping me with my hand to hand," Jaune explained.

There was a pause as Oscar's eyes glowed and his whole demeanor changed. "You have a very good teacher as Miss Xiao Long is an excellent choice."

"Thanks," Yang grinned but then she noticed Jaune's change. His smile dropped as soon as Ozpin was in control and he was avoiding looking at the boy.

"Since you've also unlocked your semblance I would suggest taking time for that as well to see what the full effect of it is."

"Yeah thanks," Jaune said in a cold voice turning away.

Ozpin looked at the boy and seemed simply let Oscar take back control. The boy felt a bit awkward with how the room felt at the moment. "So, uh…I think I'll go and see if anyone else is up for some training I guess."

Yang watched the boy leave before turning to Jaune. "Okay I've been noticing this for awhile now but you really don't like Ozpin at the moment."

Jaune paused as he took a breath, "I don't."

There was a pause as Yang wanted to bring it up but wasn't sure if she should. This really looked to bother Jaune though and maybe he needed another talk. "Do you blame him for what happened?"

"He brought her into this war, he put her into that machine and she went through so much because he put her there." Jaune's fist clenched remembering those final days. Pyrrha had been so stressed those days, like the weight of the world had been on her shoulders. Looking back, he knew now what had been giving her so much trouble.

"She would never have gone to that tower that night if he hadn't forced her into this." He said angrily.

"I don't think he forced her into this Jaune," Yang said softly. "You know what she was like, she wouldn't have been able to turn a blind eye to something like that."

"Exactly!" he turned to look at her. "He knew she couldn't say no, he knew the kind of person she was!"

Yang had never seen such anger in the boy's eyes, it was kind of scary in a way. She stood her ground though. "Jaune do you know that's what he did or what you think he did?"

"What difference does it make Yang?"

"It might," she took a moment to calm down. "Jaune have you tried talking to him about this?"

"What's the point?" He sighed angrily. "It won't change anything."

"True but I think you might need to if only for some closure," she countered. "I don't know how exactly it happens but Ozpin might not be with us forever."

Jaune was silent thinking about it. There was a lot he wanted to say to Ozpin but what was the point? She was still dead and nothing he said would change that, no matter how much he wished it could.

"There's another thing, when Oscar and Ozpin finally merge how will you deal with it? Will you blame Oscar for something Ozpin did then?" She asked.

Jaune hadn't thought about that, he was used to thinking of them as two different people but Ozpin explained that eventually their memories would merge and then what would the boy be? Jaune had nothing against Oscar, in fact he liked the boy. He reminded Jaune a lot of how he had been when he first got to Beacon. Out of his element surrounded by people so much stronger than him and put into dangerous situations.

"I'll think about it," he simply told her.

"Okay," Yang nodded her head she got the feeling pushing him anymore on this might not be a good idea. She needed to change the subject and figured what Ozpin had said might be a good idea.

"So, any ideas on how to train your semblance? Because I don't think we want to get injured just for that." She told him.

"I really wouldn't want that," he sighed thinking about it. "Plus it's not exactly healing, it's more like I can use my aura to help someone else' aura."

Yang thought about that, "So, what does that mean exactly?"

"I'm not sure," Jaune scratched the back of his head looking at her. "I mean yeah it helps with someone's natural healing abilities but I have to wonder if that's it. I don't know much about aura so I'm not sure what else I can do with it."

"Is if other people or can you alter your own as well?" Yang thought about it.

Jaune paused it never occurred to him to try it on himself. "I…don't know."

"Give it a shot," Yang gestured for him to try it out.

"Okay, let me see if I can do this." He closed his eyes as he felt for his aura. Ever since Pyrrha had unlocked it for him she had helped him in accessing it. Now he could use his aura like any other huntsman. He stood there as his face got a concentrating look on it but he wasn't sure what he was doing.

He thought back to when he healed Weiss in how he reached with out with his aura to her. Only this time when he got a hold of his aura he wasn't sure what to do next. First he just tried to 'pull' it out and then put it back in but that didn't feel right. He tried thinking of it like a circle and spinning it around but that didn't work either.

"Trouble?" Yang asked after waiting a few minutes.

Jaune's eyes snapped open and nodded. "Yeah I can feel my aura but I don't know what to do with it. When I use it on another person I just kind of 'pour' it into them. Like pouring water out of one glass into another but how do I pour water from the same glass into itself?"

Yang thought about it, it sounded like some kind of zen riddle, she hated those things they never seem to have a decent answer to her. "Maybe you're thinking of it the wrong way. It sounds like you're trying to push your aura all over yourself, right?"

"Right."

"Okay…well how about just certain parts of your bodies? You know like how when we get hurt we can push your aura to that injured part of the body and it heals faster?"

"Okay I'll try that."

"Let's go for something simple," she went up to him and placed her palm out to him. "Put it into your arm and hit my hand as hard as you can."

"Are you sure?" he was hesitant because it was her bare hand and they weren't using gloves.

"I'm a big girl Jaune, now get to it." She told him.

"Okay if you're sure," He got into a stance and felt the power of his aura as he tried to do what she said. He felt it and started to push it into his arm he thought of how a coil or a spring was when it was tightened and imagined that for his arm. Then he felt it, the aura in his arm felt like there was a pressure building up. When he felt he had reached the full force he opened his eyes and with a cry punched Yang's hand.

There was a loud impact as Yang's arm was sent flying back.

"Son of a bitch!" Yang cried out as she held her wrist her hand shaking.

"Yang!" Jaune went over to her concerned. "Are you okay, oh man please tell me I didn't hurt you."

"I think I'm good," Yang said in obvious pain. "I actually felt that."

Although she could take hits and get power from that that didn't mean she didn't feel pain. Every blow hurt to some extent plus she hadn't really had her aura ready for that kind of power. She figured it would be slightly enhanced that felt a lot harder than she thought he could get.

"Here let me help," He gently took her arm as she let him. She watched as his white aura glowed in his arms as her own yellow answered it. The numbness slowly went away, there was a throbbing pain but it was slowly starting to go away.

"Well at least now we know the answer," Yang told him. "Damn it's like you got several times stronger with that punch."

"You think so?" Jaune looked up at her from her arm.

"Yeah, I guess it's kind of like with my semblance the more damage I take the more I can give it back," Yang thought about it. "So I guess as long as your aura lasts you can boost yourself or others, huh, I wonder if that's how it really works?"

"I'm not sure but it seems like at least I have a starting point, thanks for that."

"Hey helping each other is part of the package," Yang paused as she smiled at him. "So, my hands all better now you going to let it go anytime soon?"

"Huh? Oh! Right sorry," he quickly let go blushing.

Teasing him was just so easy but it was also so much fun. Shaking her hand and flexing it everything seemed to be working just fine. "Well I think we should take a break."

"Yeah I don't feel like training anymore at the moment," He really had to think about if he wanted to talk to Ozpin or not now and it wasn't leaving his head.

"Yeah time for a shower, for the both of us at least," Yang sniffed herself a bit all the sweat was starting to add up. "Hey how about a movie night? I could use a good action film."

"Yeah that would be nice actually," Jaune nodded his head. "How about Spruce Willis?"

"Hell yeah!" Yang perked up. "He's one of my favs, that and Silvester Stallion, oh and I love martial art action films like Jet Black Lee."

"I always liked Jacke Clan." Jaune shrugged.

Yang had a large grin on his face, "Damn it why didn't you ever tell me you were an action fan? We could have hanged out watching films all the time back in Beacon."

He just shrugged, "It just never came up."

"Well now that is going to change," she replied placing her hands on her hips. "I'm not letting my new action film buddy alone. Come on I think I still got a collection on my scroll."

She said as she led the way out of the dojo.

"You know its so nice to finally have someone else that likes those films."

"Didn't anyone else on your team like them?" He asked curiously.

"Well Ruby was good but she also liked horror films, never liked those much myself." Yang really didn't know how her cute little sister could be into such things. "Weiss was more into the dramas, Blake's taste kind of vary. She seems to be into noir stuff at times but tragic or star-crossed lovers type of stuff. What about your team?"

"Well you'll be happy to know that Nora also likes action films but not so much the martial arts ones."

"Boo," Yang joked.

"Ren is actually into musicals."

"Wait, seriously!?" Yang looked at him like he grew a second head.

"Yeah I know but he likes them," He stopped there as he didn't want to bring Pyrrha up she apparently liked romance films. Looking back he was wondering if she had been trying to show him something but he was just too dense to figure it out.

"Well come on, movie night is on me then buddy," Yang nudged him in his side seeing that downed look in his eyes. She knew what he had been thinking and she had just gotten him in a better mood and she wasn't going to have Brooding Jaune around for the moment.

 **TBC…**


	7. Chapter 7: A Night In

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 7: A night in**

Nora had just finished showering and dressing in her usual clothing as she was looking in the mirror of the bathroom staring at herself. Her conversation with Yang replayed in her head and she was psyching herself up for a talk that she knew was a long time coming.

"Come on girl you can do this," She told herself. "It's Ren, you know he feels something right?"

The reflection didn't say anything back to her.

She scowled at it, "Some help you are."

With that she left the room and entered the sleeping room that she shared with Ren and Jaune. Although there were four beds like in Beacon she was hit with a sense of loss. She missed Pyrrha, she wished she was here now to talk to. Pyrrha always made things seem so simple and easy to understand that she wanted to tell her friend all the complicated feelings she felt.

Ren was her oldest friend and he had been there for her when no one else was and so she had been there for him just as much. At first, it was just being best friends that she had felt for him but over time, things had changed. As they grew up, she started to notice that her friend was actually pretty good looking. She didn't think much of it although living with him in the same room in Beacon hadn't helped.

She remembered that time Jaune had pulled Ren out of the shower to talk and he had been sitting on a bed listening to their leader in nothing but a towel. Now she had been there too listening to music and trying to study but she couldn't have helped stealing a look here and there. When Jaune had asked him how Ren and Nora were together she had to explain how it wasn't like that.

That was the day she knew that the seed had been planted in her mind.

After that, she couldn't help but notice how Ren was, how handsome he was, maybe even borderline pretty for a guy that is. She kept thinking to how he looked shirtless and although she pushed such thoughts down over time it became harder and harder for her to do. She didn't want to ruin their friendship just in case he only thought of her as like a sister. She was actually fine with that, as long as they were together in some way.

Then they had taken their journey to get here and something had changed.

She wasn't sure what had changed but there was something between them and it was gnawing at her. When Yang brought it up in the gym she knew that she had to get it out or else it might just explode. So taking a deep breath she faced the door and wished herself luck.

It didn't take long to time him, he was still training with the others outside. There seemed to be a few things going on. She noticed that Blake and Weiss were in a doubles match against Ilia and Sun.

' _Huh, I thought Sun said she stabbed him that one time?'_ she thought but shrugged it off. If he trusted her to fight by his side even in training it was all good in her book.

She noticed Ren was instructing both Ruby and apparently a woken up Oscar in hand to hand fighting. She had to admit the two of them were getting better but both were still amateurs when it came to fistfights. Ruby was obviously ahead of poor Oscar but the boy never seemed to give. In fact after that fight against Cinder and the others she noticed that Oscar had gotten some confidence.

While not as experienced as Ruby he never seemed to give in and kept pushing back whatever the red caped reaper threw at him. She walked over to them as both young teens were going at it again.

"Oscar remember to keep your left up, and Ruby you're still dropping your shoulder when you want to throw a huge punch. He's using that as a tell," Ren instructed them.

"Got it," Both of them said as they both tried to adjust.

"How are things going on here?" Nora asked him.

He smiled and nodded, "Well, they're both improving."

There was a whack sound and a thud.

"Oscar are you okay?" A concerned Ruby asked.

The boy was on his back with a groan, "Yes…just let me, let me catch my breath…and stop the world from spinning a bit."

"But some work is still needed." Ren shrugged.

"Well you mind if you guys take a break?" She asked the three of them. "I kind of want to talk to Ren about something."

"Alright I think we can take a break," Ren nodded seeing Ruby looking over Oscar making sure he was okay. "What do you want to talk about?"

"It's kind of a private talk," she told him as she lead him around the corner of the building out of view of everyone. As soon as they were out of view she took a breath, she was so nervous at the moment. More nervous than their battle at the festival, more nervous than her first day of classes, she could feel her heart pounding away in her chest.

"Nora, are you okay?" Ren asked her, she seemed off. She rarely got like this and usually it was when something was bothering her. Normally she would be so energetic and talkative but she was the exact opposite now.

She looked up at him as she just would do what she normally did, start talking and see where it went. She wasn't one to really plan out in detail what she would say, she wasn't someone that spent time working out a conversation in advance. She just acted on her feelings and so she did just that.

"Ren you know we've been together a long time right?"

He nodded, "Of course."

"Well things between us have always been good right? I mean there are a few times maybe not so much but for most of it we've been good."

Again he nodded his head wondering where she was going with this.

"Well it's just that, you've always been there for me and I wanted you to know that no matter what I'll always be there for you."

"I feel the same Nora," He replied.

She smiled at that, "That's good to know. Since I wanted you to know something and I wanted you to know that no matter what you say I'll always be your friend."

"Nora what's going on?"

She took a breath as she looked down as her hands started to fidget with her skirt. This was the moment, she knew that once she started she could never take this back but she had to say something. It was now or maybe she might never get the nerve to try this again in the future.

"Ren for awhile now I…well I've felt things for you, like more than friendship things." She said awkwardly. "It started last year and well ever since then, especially on the trip here and everything I've been feeling it more and more. I…I like you Ren and I mean like-like and not just friends-like."

"I have for awhile now but I didn't want to wreck our friendship because it means so much to me that I never wanted to lose you. I've lost so much and the thought of losing you hurts so much that I feel like my heart would rip apart." She looked up into his eyes as her aqua colored eyes locked with his pale pink ones.

Ren could see that she was baring her heart out to him and he was totally at a loss.

"Nora I-" she silenced him with a gentle hand to his lips.

"I just wanted to tell you, I needed to tell you how I felt and I don't expect you to say anything back." She told him with slightly sad eyes.

Ren took her fingers in his hands as he looked into the eyes of his childhood friend. She was someone who had been there in his life for so long that he barely remembered his life before she came into it. They had suffered together, been through the worst moments in their lives together, had been through so many joys, sorrow, laughter, fun, pain. They had been through it all together.

He thought back to that fight with the Nuckelavee, when he had been pinned to that wall he had seen its hand coming for him ready to end his life. Then there had been this blur and Nora had taken the limb off course. For that brief moment had he feared the worst, that he had lost her.

The moment he had turned his head and had seen her alive and well, the relieve he had felt in that moment, he knew that something inside of him had awakened.

Looking at her now he didn't see his friend, he saw the one person that he knew he wanted in his life forever. The one person he wanted by his side no matter what might happen to them in the future. Gently taking her hand down and still locked into her eyes he knew in this moment that Nora was special to him in a way that no other person in the world was.

"Nora I feel the same." He gently told her.

"You mean you like me? As in like-like?" Nora asked hopefully.

He smirked at the silliness of her but that was one of the reasons he did care about her. "Yes Nora, I like-like you."

Her eyes widened as a huge smile grew on her face as she pressed her face into his chest and hugged him close. Ren smiled down as he wrapped his arms around her, this felt right. This felt as natural as breathing for him. He leaned his face down into her orange hair smelling the scent slightly as both of them just enjoyed the moment.

That is until a slightly high pitch self-contained squeal was heard making the two of them look at the corner to see that they weren't alone. There by the corner were Sun, Blake, Ilia, Weiss, Oscar and the one making the sound was Ruby with her fist balled up under her chin.

"How long were you guys there?" Nora demanded.

"Pretty much all of it," Sun admitted with a huge grin.

"You guys!" Ruby exploded onto the scene. "This is great! I always knew you two would make a cute couple!"

"Thanks," Nora grinned with a slight blush on her face.

After that, it quickly passed around to the few that weren't around what had happened. This of course led to everyone happy for their friends and anymore training that day was pushed aside to enjoy one of the few moments that they could get happy about. The afternoon was spent just enjoying themselves and resting up.

Currently Blake was curled up in the corner with a book she got from the local library and didn't look to be stopping anytime soon. There was a game going of Conquest of Remnant between Ruby, Oscar, Ilia and Sun. Weiss was watching and learning, she was determined that this time she would win her future games.

The rest were just about to put on a film as Yang set up her scroll to the TV in front of the couches.

"Oh this is a classic," the blonde grinned as she linked the two devices. "Dragon Fist."

"The original or the remake?" Jaune asked from his spot at the end of the couch.

"Original but I have both," she smiled at him.

"Yeah both are pretty good," Jaune nodded in agreement. "It's kind of tough to say which is better. The original is just a classic but there is that one fight scene in the new one that is just way too cool."

"Finally!" Yang threw her arms up. "I've said the same thing but my dad is all about the original and Ruby doesn't see the difference."

"They're the same movie but with different actors!" The little reaper yelled from across the room.

"No comments from the peanut gallery," Yang said back making her way to the couch. She could already see Ren at the opposite end of the couch from Jaune.

"Popcorn is done," Nora sang out as she placed it on the table in front of them in a large bowl. She eagerly sat down next to Ren.

Nora and Ren awkwardly sat next to each other, it was strange because they normally sat next to each other all the time. However, after this morning things were different between them. They were more than just friends and since neither of them had any experience with dating they had no idea of what to really do.

They were both orphans with no real parental figures in their lives that they could have gone for advice in this kind of situation growing up. The only thing Nora could think about were things she saw on TV shows or in movies but she wasn't sure how that actually works in real life. So in the end, Nora just decided to press up against Ren. There was a slight moment of awkwardness between them but soon they both seem to settle into it.

Yang gave a small smile at the scene as she sat down with a plop right next to Jaune, as it was the only empty place on the couch. Tapping her scroll the TV screen flickered to life as the film started to run.

"It's been awhile since we all just did something like this," Jaune sighed leaning back into the cushions.

Yang nodded her head. "Yeah things were so much simpler back at Beacon. Hell I think I actually miss homework, well maybe not by much but you get what I mean."

"Yeah the simpler days of just going to class, training, hanging out with everyone, all of it seems so long ago."

Yang knew it wasn't even a full year yet but it was getting there, if Beacon hadn't fallen they would be getting ready for the new semester. Looking forward to going back, seeing everyone and looking forward to what a new school year would bring. Instead, here they were halfway across the planet now in a life or death battle for the world.

Okay sure, this was the kind of thing she was training to do but she figured she still had a few more years of fun before she fully got into the life of an adult. Instead, it seemed that had been cut short, well whatever, she had no idea what the future held but now that they were all together, she was certain they would all face it together.

Back with the card game Oscar was concentrating on his next move. He was Vale and so far he had been building up a good defense against the others. Ilia was playing as Vacuo and while her territory wasn't as large she was making small probes to see who would be the first to be attacked. Sun was playing as Mistral and he seemed to be all over the place. Oscar wasn't sure if he was actually planning things out or just doing whatever random thing he thought of at the time.

The final was Ruby as Atlas with Weiss over her shoulder, Ruby would explain the different units and cards, the benefits and everything to the white haired girl.

"So if I move this here I'm now defended," Ruby explained to Weiss as she placed a Nevermore along her boarder.

"I think I see," Weiss narrowed her eyes as she looked on the playing board and then to Ruby's hand and pointed to a card. "So then would you play that card?"

"Yep, I play this and end my turn," Ruby placed a card face down.

Oscar went to thinking, he could attack Ruby's forces but did he want to do that or wait for someone else to try first, since Ilia was waiting for an opening and Sun was, well he wasn't sure what he might do.

His thoughts were broken as the front door opened up and the Belladonnas walked in.

"Mom, dad, how was today?" Blake asked looking up from her reading.

"Another long day," Kali sighed. "Some of the White Fang members are coming around and cooperating with the police but there are some that was just so stubborn. Even with family or friends trying to persuade them they aren't budging."

"Some people are just too hard headed," Ghira shook his head as he made his way to the kitchen area. He felt the need for some tea to help him relax after hours of trying to talk sense into those members.

"So what is everyone else doing?" Kali asked looking around.

"Game," Ruby called out as she played her turn.

"Movie," Yang said not taking her eyes off the screen.

"Reading," Blake commented looking back at the book.

Kali sighed as she looked at her daughter. "Honestly Blake you always have your nose in a book."

"So she was like this a lot?" Ruby perked up wondering how Blake was when she was younger.

"Oh yes she would always be in the library reading a book." Kali shook her head in amusement. "I had to force her outside sometimes but then I'd find her reading again. Usually under a tree reading instead of playing with other children."

"Mom," Blake moaned out in embarrassment.

"I can totally see that," Yang grinned looking back over her shoulder at them. "So it was either being in rallies, picket lines or reading for you growing up."

Blake tried to hide her face behind her book, her books would never judge her.

"She was like that in the Fang too," Ilia commented. "When she wasn't training she usually was alone with a book."

"Not you too Ilia," Blake groaned.

Kali walked over to her daughter and gently hand a loving hand through her daughter's hair. "I'm just happy that you have a lot of good friends now Blake. You were such a lonely child growing up that I felt that I might have failed as a parent. But seeing you here now with all of your friends makes me glade that you found a group all your own."

Blake blushed. "They are good friends."

Oscar looked at the scene and he was of two minds of it. It warmed his heart to see such things but a small part of him also felt a bit envious.

"Oscar you okay?" Ruby had noticed how his mind didn't seem to be on the game. He was just kind of lost in thought as they waited for his turn.

"Huh? Oh sorry," He quickly pulled a card and then put one from his hand down. "I kind of got started thinking of home."

"Oh yeah I never heard where you're from," Sun perked up. He really didn't know much personal information about Oscar.

Oscar shrugged. "I'm not that special really. I'm from Mistral but not from any of the larger city or settlements. I grew up on my aunt's farm in a safe zone just outside of the settlement of Seto."

"Oh what kind of farm?" Ruby asked as since she was from the small island of Patch there had been a few students at her school that had been from farming families. Since the small island had a few farms in case they ever were cut off from the main land. "Was it planting or animal? If it was animals please tell me you guys have some horses!"

Oscar chuckled. "It's a farm for food, mainly wheat but we do some vegetables and potatoes as well. And we do keep a few animals around including a pair of horses."

Ruby's eyes lit up she always wanted to ride a horse because it looked fun.

Weiss had noticed something that he had omitted and she was a bit hesitant to ask but she was a bit curious. "Oscar, you said your aunt's farm. What about the rest of your family?"

Oscar looked down a bit as he shuffled his cards. "It's just me and my aunt, we're the only family we have left."

There was a moment of silence before Ruby asked the question. "Grimm?"

He nodded his head. "I was pretty young and thankfully I don't remember much. I just remember my mom putting me into a root cellar and telling me to be quiet. There were a lot of noises then, bad noises."

All he could remember was being alone in the dark, with the sounds of fighting, the cries of Grimm and people. Other sounds he didn't want to think about. He had been stuck in the dark trying his best not to make a sound the entire night. It was just him alone in the dark and even when the silence finally came he didn't come out. He was waiting for his mother or father to come back for him to tell him everything was okay.

They never came.

"It wasn't until some huntsmen showed up to clean out the Grimm left that one of them found me." Oscar told them. "There were a few other survivors but…"

"So you ended up with your aunt." Weiss finished for him.

"Yeah it was rough at first but it wasn't so bad." Oscar smiled. "She's been great and I couldn't have ended up in a better place."

"I lost my mom when I was a kid too," Ruby said softly. "She was a huntress and one day she left for a mission and…just didn't come back. I was too young to really get it at the time but I think that's one of the reasons I wanted to become a huntress."

"I can't imagine what your aunt must have said when you left," Ilia finally spoke up trying to lighten the mood somewhat.

"Yeah…about that," Oscar scratched the back of his head.

"You did tell you were you leaving," Weiss narrowed her eyes.

"I left a note?" Oscar shrugged sheepishly.

Weiss rolled her eyes as Ruby huffed out trying to look all stern as a cute sixteen year old could muster, which wasn't much.

"Oscar you shouldn't have done that, she's most likely worried sick about you."

"Ruby, you did the exact same thing!" Yang shouted from the couch.

"Uhhh, well, that was, I mean," Ruby shifted uncomfortably being called out on that. Weiss just smacked her hand to her forehead, as she should have seen that coming from her partner.

"Well what about you Yang?" Ruby shot back.

"Dad knows I left looking for you, I was the responsible one." She fired back.

"Gods, if Yang of all people is the responsible one," Weiss sighed.

"Hey!" Said Yang.

"Well what about you?" Ruby asked Weiss. "Didn't you run away from home too?"

Weiss crossed her arms over her chest giving her a level look. "My own father made me a literal prisoner in our own home. I wasn't allowed to leave or any contact with the outside world. I didn't run away so much as escaped."

"Well then…" Ruby looked to Blake.

"I brought my parents with me remember?" she said without looking up from her book.

Ruby just groaned as she slunk down in her seat and pulled her hood over her head. Everyone was against her and it wasn't fair.

"Still you should tell you you're alright at least," Weiss looked to Oscar.

The boy sighed. "I know and I've wanted to but how do I even start explaining all of this?" He waived his hands around the room. "I know I can't tell her everything but what I can tell her is crazy enough as is."

"Yeah it is pretty wild," Sun nodded.

"I'll just think of something, eventually." Oscar shrugged.

Yang looked back to the film after this, she didn't miss much plus it wasn't like she hadn't nearly memorized this film anyway. She could practically recite some scenes in her sleep she bet.

Currently it was a small fight scene between the protagonist and another from a rival from another martial arts school. He was throwing his weight around trying to goad them into a challenge between the schools, the hero was having none of it and was making quick work of the rival.

"I always liked that move he just pulled," Jaune said with a grin as he tried to copy it. "I could never get it right though."

"I can teach you that one," Yang shrugged as she perfectly mimicked the move.

"Really?" Jaune looked at her excited.

"Eventually," Yang nodded. "First we get you set with the basics first and then we can move into the more advanced stuff."

Jaune looked a bit disappointed but it quickly faded, he knew that you had to learn the basics before trying something more advanced or fancy. "Then I'll be looking forward to it."

"Oh does this make Yang your sensei?" Nora grinned.

Yang rubbed her chin. "Huh, Yang-sensei does have a nice ring to it."

"It would be like one of these films with the young student learning from the old master." Nora said.

"Old? Whose old here?" Yang said defensively.

"You know what I mean," Nova waved it off. "You'd be the mentor character if this was a film."

"Don't the mentor characters usually end up dying in stories?" Jaune asked thinking about it. Usually the mentor was someone older and taught the young hero and eventually died to motivate the hero to defeat the person that did it, complete the quest or something else along that line.

"Oh hell no," Yang shook her head. "I'm not going out like that. If this was a martial arts movie I would be one of the fighters."

"What would the title be if it was?" Jaune asked watching the film.

Yang looked up thinking about it. "Maybe…Enter the Yang!"

"Boo," Nova flicked a piece of popcorn at the blonde girl.

"How about The Girl with the Iron Fist?" Jaune offered.

Yang looked at her hand and for a moment, Jaune was wondering if he might have gone a bit too far. He wasn't sure how sensitive she was about the arm, sure she never showed to be sensitive about it and she even joked about it. Still, he figured she couldn't just be fine with it all the time. Thankfully, she mentally sighed when she grinned and punched the air with her robotic arm.

"Yeah I think I can dig that," Yang laughed. "I can totally see it now, your beautiful protagonist gains a special iron arm to replace the one she lost in battle on an epic revenge quest against the man that did it."

Jaune was a little worried she was projecting some of her real life a bit too much into it but he didn't want to spoil the mood. They all sat in silence watching the film before he finally spoke up again.

"This is nice."

"It is," Ren agreed. "We rarely are given the chance to just relax since Beacon."

Yang's eyes lit up as an idea hit her as she turned in her chair to look at Sun. "Hey Monkey-Boy."

"Yo," Sun looked at her.

"You know any good dance clubs around here?"

"A few, yeah." He nodded.

"Any that we can go to that isn't age restricted?" Yang didn't really care that much but if she could drag Ruby along for once she wanted to make sure it was a place they didn't have to sneak into or start a brawl, at least for this time.

"Oh yeah there are a couple of really good places I know," Sun nodded eagerly now. "They don't serve alcohol and students get a discount."

"Sweet," Yang was liking this more and more. "Okay then, tomorrow I say we have a night out on the town."

"Do we have to?" Blake asked.

"Come on it will be good to get out of here and see the sights," Yang told them. "This is my first time even in Mistral so I think we should enjoy it while we're still here. Once we're back on the move who knows how long it will be before we're back here again or staying anywhere for any length of time."

"Well I'm sold," Nora suddenly gasped and looked at Ren. "Hey it could be like our first date."

Ren thought about it and nodded, he honestly had no idea what to do for a date with Nora but this might be a good chance.

"There you go, come on guys we train hard so we should party hard." Yang offered.

"Yeah you guys should totally do it, Mistral actually has some good places to hang out in and I can show you around the city a bit as well." Sun offered.

Ruby could see that Yang really wanted this and it would be nice for Nora and Ren, Sun was on board too. Although Ruby really wasn't the social butterfly her big sister was, she had never been to a club or anything like that. "I don't have to wear heels and a dress again do I?"

"Nope," Yang then looked to Jaune. "You might want a new shirt though."

"What, why?"

"Well first I don't think walking into a club in armor would be a good thing," she pointed to his breastplate that he was still wearing. "Also you already had a few reactions to your bunny hoodie."

"Pumpkin Pete." He interjected.

"Doesn't make it better Jaune, so you want a whole club having that reaction?"

Jaune thought about it and suddenly shrank into his seat. "No."

"Oh I think I know a good place," Sun offered. "Neptune does his shopping there so it should be easy to find him a decent shirt."

"Says the guy that only ever wears an open shirt all the time," Weiss sighed.

"Hey I said Neptune shops there, not me." Sun defended himself. "Plus I'm used to living in a dessert environment; it's hot all the time except at night."

"Well sounds like we got ourselves a plan," Yang smiled going back to her film it was going to be fun to let loose at a club. The last one she had been to was Junior's and that hadn't lasted long.

 **TBC…**

 **OMAKE (NON-CANON)**

Kali listened to the kids at the card table talking about their families. How Ruby and Oscar practically ran away to adventure, she was surprised by how Weiss had been held captive by her own father. She didn't have the best opinion of Jacques Schnee to begin with but after hearing that she felt that opinion was gone so much lower.

She turned to Sun, "What about you? What about your family?"

She didn't notice Blake stiffen at that, no one else in the room knew about Sun's past but her.

Sun just shrugged, "Don't got one."

"What?" Kali blinked as everyone else looked to Sun.

"Yep I'm an orphan." Sun said like it was nothing special and to him it wasn't, that's just how things were.

"Hey you're like Ren and me then," Nora grinned at him. "Welcome to the club."

"Thanks," Sun smiled at her.

"So you never had a family?" Kali asked him.

"Nope," Sun told her. "Hey it's nothing major. You can't miss what you never had right?"

There was a moment of silence before Sun suddenly found his head being hugged to Kali's chest as he dropped his cards and was trying very hard to both figure out what was going on or feel how nice this felt.

"You poor baby, I'll be your mother then," Kali hugged him.

"Mom!" Blake yelled embarrassed.

"I don't think that's how it works Mrs. B," Sun told her blushing at the moment.

"Oh I know, if you and Blake marry then I can become your mother-in-law," Kali said happily.

"Seriously mom!?" Blake's face grew red at the suggestion.

"Over that boy's dead body!" Her father was heard walking angrily over to the boy.

"Uh…I thought the saying was 'over my dead body'?"

He glared at the blonde monkey Faunus. "I'm not the one that's going to be dead in a minute."

 **(so that was just a little humor that I wanted to put in that didn't make it OOC for the main story. Thanks to everything that takes the time to leave a review, I like getting them and responding to them)**


	8. Chapter 8: Dancing the night away

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 8: Dancing the night away**

Jaune wasn't sure if this was a good idea or not. He was perfectly happy with his clothing but Yang had been insistent that if they were going to a club they should all at least look somewhat decent to have fun. The boy honestly had no idea what 'decent' meant for a club. He had never been in one before he wasn't even sure what to do in one.

So here, he was with the males of their group being led by Sun to a store that apparently had good clothing.

"Why are we doing this?" Jaune groaned.

"The girls are doing the same so we should at least put in the same effort," Ren told him as they walked next to each other.

"Easy for you to say, everything you wear looks good." The blonde sighed.

His friend only shrugged, it wasn't his fault that he always had good sense with fashion.

"I'm not even sure why I'm here," Oscar who was on the other side of Jaune commented. "Am I even old enough for clubbing?"

"Yep," Sun said looking back at him. "They got kids your age at the place I'm thinking of too. It's actually a pretty nice place since they got no alcohol that means less drunks causing issues but as long as you're with us you should be good to go at any rate."

"I'm feeling really out of my depth here," Oscar sighed.

"Join the club," Jaune groaned.

"Well we're here," Sun told them as they stood before a clothing store. As they went in the boys looked around and it seemed like any other clothing store. Only on closer inspection, it seemed to be tailored to a slightly higher class of people. There weren't any T-shirts, anything with a logo on the front of the shirt or anything like that.

Sun looked around, "Yep this is the place Neptune usually goes to."

"I think I'll check out that Mistral style section," Ren stated before moving on.

"I guess we look around?" Oscar said with a shrug as the rest of them looked around

Jaune found some white shirts, although plain he liked the color. It was the color of his armor after all and he wasn't sure if he should just pick with what he liked or did he want to try and pick something that was a little more impressive? What the hell was impressive anyway?

Jaune groaned looking at the selection. There were long sleeve, short, buttoned up, ones with collars and without. Some were just white while others had slight colors placed on it to make it stand out more.

"Do you need help sir?" A female voice startled the tall blonde.

"Ah! I mean , ah, yeah, yes please," Jaune tried to cover looking at the young lady dressed in a business like suit that had on a name tag that read 'Carmen' on it.

She gave him a humored small smile before looking at the rack. "So what are you looking for?"

"Uh well a few of us are going to a club and I was told that I should dress a bit up for it." He scratched the back of his head.

She hummed and nodded casting him a look and then back. "So are you trying to make a statement or trying to catch the eye of someone?"

"W-what?" Jaune was taken aback by the last comment.

"Well it is one reason to dress up nicely," she picked up a shirt and placed it in front of him looking to see how it looked with him. She shook her head and placed it back before looking again. "Who told you to dress up?"

"A friend."

"Female friend I take it," she smirked.

"Uh, yeah how did you know?"

"A feeling," she grinned as she picked up another. "I think you might need a pair of pants to go with it. She then looked down at his footwear at his boots. "Maybe some more comfortable footwear?"

Jaune looked at his boots, they were pretty broken in and they were actually very comfortable. He also wasn't sure about new footwear because wouldn't he have to carry them when they left? "I think the pants and shirt would be fine."

She pouted but then shrugged, "I can work around that then. Now then let's get you looking great."

Not that far away the girls were looking for their own clothing, well most of them that is. Ruby had been dragged to this place by her older sister and she was not happy about it. They hadn't dragged her kicking and screaming but she had thought about doing just that. They were in a store that Yang had found and most of them were looking around.

Ruby cast a look to the front door as she was thinking if she could make it, if she used her speed they shouldn't be able to stop her.

"Don't even think about it sis," Yang said while not even looking at her as the elder sister was looking at some clothing from the rack in front of her.

"Stupid sister and her sisterly powers," Ruby muttered.

"Come on Ruby we deserve to let loose and have some fun," Yang told her picking up a shirt and looked it over.

"Yang, you know I'm not good at this kind of stuff," Ruby moaned with her arms hanging down. "I'm not the kind that goes to dances, wears fancy dresses, go to clubs or things like that."

Yang put the shirt away, went over to her younger sister, and gently took her by the shoulders. "Ruby I just want you to enjoy yourself, you've been putting a lot on your shoulders lately and don't think I haven't noticed. I know it's not easy for you but I just want you to break out of your shell even for a bit. Plus you don't have to wear something too fancy, it's a club you just have to wear something that looks good."

"Really?" Ruby asked her. "Does that mean I can keep my hood?"

Yang rolled her eyes, "Yes you can keep the hood."

Ruby felt a bit better at hearing that, she had no experience with this kind of thing after all. She was more at home reading comics or weapon magazines, tinkering with her own weapon or training.

"I think this will do," Weiss' voice caught the sisters attention. She came out of a chance room wearing a long light blue dress with a long slit down the side showing off her leg that also had a white slim jacket that covered the upper chest area of her body as she looked at a full-length mirror.

"I thought you said this wasn't fancy clothing?" Ruby narrowed her eyes at Yang.

"That's Weiss, you really expect her to dress down?" Yang offered.

"Good point," Ruby nodded.

 **-That Night-**

Everyone was gathering for going out that night, Blake's parents were insistent that they weren't to be out too late as the only parental figures they felt a need to set some kind of grounds for the youths, much to Blake's slight embarrassment. In the lounge area the boys were the first ones ready. Oscar had on similar pants but now was sporting a grey button up shirt he had no idea why he had agreed to this.

He never went out on things like this, hell the place he was from the village didn't even have any clubs it was too small for it. Once again, he was feeling out of place but now for slightly different reasons. Looking around he was glad to see that the others were looking slightly nervous. Well except for Sun, he was fast learning that the blonde Faunus didn't seem to get worked up about much of anything.

Oscar rather envied that, Jaune was looking just as awkward who had gone for a red short sleeve shirt of his own as the boy fiddled with the collar slightly.

Jaune looked over to Ren who seemed to just be adjusting his new Mistral styled shirt, it was kind of similar to what he normally wore only that it didn't have the coattails and had sleeves. "I don't know how you're not nervous. I mean first date and all that."

Ren thought about it before answer. "I am a bit but I guess it's because that Nora and myself have been together for so long that this isn't much different than how we usually are together. It's just that now we're not hanging out as friends."

"Huh, I guess I can see that," Jaune nodded. The sounds of the girls coming down the stairs got their attention as Blake came down.

She was a bit conservative, apparently opting to wear dark pants with a purple top while wearing that white coat of hers. Weiss came down looking glamorous, as usual part of Jaune knew that back in the day he would have said she was an angle. Well she was still good looking but those feelings were gone for a while now.

Jaune had a small smile as an uncomfortable Ruby made her way down she still had on her red hood but had opted to keep her same boots and apparently none torn up stockings. She had on a red skirt that was similar to what she usually wore but now was wearing a sleeveless black and red top. She kept on rubbing her arms apparently not used to having them exposed.

Next was Yang who looked to be making sure Ruby wasn't going to back out. She had on her usual coat on but was now wearing a pair of leather pants and a yellow tube top. Jaune had to admit that Yang was never one to shy away from showing herself off.

A part of him paused as he wondered what Pyrrha would have worn if she was around. He suddenly felt a gap in his chest thinking about how she wasn't here to enjoy the night out with everyone. He tried to push those feelings down, tonight was for all of them and he didn't want to bring them down. He had been so lost in thought he had missed Nora and Ilia coming in last. Both girls wore nice clothing although he did notice that Ren was looking only at Nora.

He smiled happy that his teammates had gotten together.

"So where is this place we're going to?" Yang asked Sun.

"It's not far, a place called Jade Dragon that I found out about my first month here." He explained.

The group left to the streets of Mistral as the sun was slowly starting to lower on the horizon. They had the usual small talk as Sun pointed out a few other places or things. Sometimes he would call out an amusing story about something happening over in a certain spot or some other colorful story. They had arrived in a business style district and soon came to a large building at the corner of the street.

Music could be heard from inside as the main door looked to be on the corner of the building.

"No bouncer?" Yang asked slightly disappointed.

"This is an all ages place so it's not as rowdy or crowded as the ones with alcohol," Sun shrugged.

They walked in an immediately were assaulted by the music of the place, there was a coat check. Weiss kept her slim jacket on while Yang and Blake checked theirs in. Sun was surprised to see that Blake's top was backless. Ruby kept her cloak of course she didn't want to be separated from it as they got into the main part of the building.

There was a large dance floor area with the DJ hard at work with a dozen people already out on the floor. There seemed to be a second level but they choose single standing tables to gather around for the time.

"So…what do we do at places like this?" Ruby asked slightly loudly to be overheard.

"Well you can mingle, get a drink over at the bar or dance," Yang told her sister. "That's usually where I start."

"Well might as well," Jaune shrugged.

The group went to the long bar which thankfully had a couple of staff behind it. Unfortunately, they were spread out so they formed smaller groups to get some drinks. Yang waited for her turn as she started to sway to the music and ordered a drink. She ended up with some kind of fruit mix as she tested it out. It wasn't bad, wasn't her favorite drink but it would do.

She sighed as she felt herself relax a bit it had been a long time since she went out clubbing. Pretty much before she went to Beacon since trashing Junior's didn't count, as she didn't even get her drink before the fight had started. She smiled at the memory that had been a fun night.

She had been so lost in thought she hadn't noticed someone walking up next to her.

"Hey there haven't seen you here before."

Yang turned to see some boy around her age leaning against the bar to her left. She smirked at him knowing a pick up line a mile away but still it had been awhile since someone had tried. Mainly with her shut in and on the road, she hadn't a lot of time to be among other people.

"Just got here visiting the city." She replied.

"Well if you need someone to show you the sights I'm sure I can show you something."

"Oh really?" She leaned forward and grabbed her drink, with her right hand. She noticed his eyes look at the metal arm and she could see him shift slightly uncomfortably for a moment.

"On second thought maybe not," He had a plastered smile on his face as he backed away. "I hope you have a good time."

Yang's face fell slightly looking at her arm and sighed. She should have guessed that, having a missing arm was a turn off for some people after all.

Jaune however was close enough to notice this, he had been about to give her some space seeing the guy trying to pick up his friend but when he suddenly changed his mind at seeing her arm. Well it just reminded Jaune of when Neptune had turned down Weiss and how she had looked when he had found out about it.

Looking at Yang now, he could see her looking at her metal hand and something inside of him didn't want to see her looking down. She had started to become a closer friend to him lately and he didn't want to see friends down. He moved next to her forgetting his own drink behind.

"Come on," Jaune said taking her metallic hand gently leading her away from the bar.

"Uh, Jaune what are you doing?" Yang raised an eyebrow.

"Well I'm not great at the social thing so how about a dance?" He gestured to the dance floor hoping it would cheer her up.

Yang remembered that at the dance at school he was a good dancer. Deciding to throw herself into this she smiled and took the lead. Hell, she needed something else to focus her mind on. The two of them took to the dance floor as they started to move with the music. It was upbeat club music and Yang took to it naturally. She saw that Jaune was following her every move and she smiled.

Besides fighting and having a good, hanging out with friends and her bike there was one other thing he loved and that was to just let loose and dance. Finding a partner that could keep up with her could be challenging at times but Jaune was holding up. This didn't surprise her too much she did remember him dancing up a storm at the school dance after all.

Blake saw her partner and Jaune and was glad to see Yang smiling. Ever since they had gotten the team back together, again Blake couldn't help but notice the little differences. Yang's usual playful manner had seemed to be slightly blunted at the young woman seemed a bit more seriously these days. It wasn't a bad thing but she was worried that Yang was slowly losing that special fire inside of her.

After everything, it was silly to think no one could change after all that happened but it was nice to see that the change hadn't changed too much.

"You have a lot of good friends," Ilia's voice startled her slightly as her fellow Faunus sat down next to her.

"Yeah I was lucky to be put on a team with them all." Blake nodded.

Ilia smiled slightly looking down at her drink, "I wish I had friends like that back in school. I might not have made some bad choices in my life."

"I think I know how that goes," Blake sighed knowing that her own past was just as checkered.

"How do you do it?" Ilia asked still not looking at her.

"Do what?"

"Keep going after you left…the group," she was being very careful not to say the words 'White Fang' given that they had just tried to blow up the combat school in the city it was still all over the news.

Blake was silent a moment before answer, "One day at a time. I can't change what I've done but I can change what I'll do. I wanted to do something to make up for what I did, to atone and maybe wipe the slate clean."

"That was Beacon?"

"Yes."

"How did you choose that?"

"Being a Huntress would allow me to use the skills I had to help people, if it didn't work out then I guess I would just try something else. I just wanted to do something, anything to try and make the world better even if it was just in some small way."

Ilia couldn't help but smirk. "And here you are trying to save the world."

"Yeah, things turned out differently than I thought," Blake smiled.

There was a moment of quiet between them before she spoke up. "I know we never talked about it but…does what I said to you change how you see me?"

"Which part?" Blake asked her not sure which thing she was referring to.

She sighed as she blushed slightly. "When I pretty much said how much I liked you."

"Oh…that." Blake really wasn't sure what to say she placed a hand on Ilia's. "You should know that I'll always consider you a friend…but…"

"You're not into girls." She nodded her head and took a drink. "I know, given how you were with Adam."

"Biggest mistake of my life," Blake muttered.

"I figured as much." Ilia got up and looked at Blake. "Just so you know I'll still always consider you a friend as well." She gently ran a hand on Blake's arm before moving off to another section of the bar as she just wanted to have a little alone time.

Blake sighed looking down at her drink wondering if there had been a way of letting her down easier. Her thoughts were broken when a woman in red sat down next to her she had fox ears on the top of her red hair marking her as a Faunus.

"Get shot down there honey?" She asked with a smile.

' _Seriously do I have a sign that says 'lesbian' on me somewhere?'_ Blake mentally thought about some of the rumors back at school before she started hanging around Sun before answering her.

"No I rejected her because I'm not into women," Blake said flatly.

The woman stumbled looking embarrassed, "Ah, sorry you two looked close and, well this is totally embarrassing."

Blake nodded but then stopped as an idea hit her. "You know my friend who just left is single and she is into women."

"Oh?" The woman looked intrigued looking at the other girl at the end of the bar. "Mind if I ask you a few questions?"

Ruby sat at the table with Oscar swinging her legs as she finished some kind of fruity drink. She had no idea what to do and at least Weiss and Oscar were still with her. Nora and Ren were together off on their own, which made sense this was their first night together as an actual couple. Looking at them together at a table across the way made Ruby smile a bit. That no matter what had happened or was going to happen there would be small things like this that made it all worth it.

"You sure you two want to stay at the table?" Weiss asked.

"You know I don't really know how to dance," Ruby muttered looking down at her drink.

"I'm not much of one either," Oscar admitted with a shrug. "Not much call for a farm boy to learn."

Weiss shrugged, "Well you two could learn it's not that hard."

"Says you, I bet you had professional teachers." Ruby challenged.

Weiss waved it off, "While true if you know how to fight you can put that into a dance."

Ruby paused remembering something from the school dance. "Huh, Ozpin said something similar to me."

"If you think about it, fighting and dancing aren't too different. Two partners interlocked, although one wrong move on the ballroom merely leads to a swollen ankle." Oscar suddenly says with a slightly far off look on his face before shaking his head slightly. "I…remember that. You were in this red and black dress and having trouble walking in heels."

"Wow that's kind of cool…and kind of strange," Ruby commented.

"You should see it from my perspective," Oscar sighed. "I know I personally didn't experience it but its memory is just as real to me. Well that and in that memory I was taller."

Ruby giggled at that.

"That would be odd, have you had these before?" Weiss asked the young boy.

"It's comes and goes," Oscar stated. "Ozpin said this is the normal process and as time goes on more and more memories will come. It's kind of scary really."

Weiss paused thinking about it. "I can't even being to think how that must feel."

"Well no matter what you're not doing it alone," Ruby offered Oscar. "You got all of us here with you."

"That actually does make me feel better knowing that," He nodded his head.

Across from them at the bar Ilia was staring into her drink wondering if she could find a place that would serve something a bit stronger. She thought about it and pushed it aside, that wasn't the way the wanted to go. Especially after meeting that Qrow person, that was not someone she wanted to end up as.

She was about to take another drink when someone sat next to her. Ilia cast a look and paused for a moment. A very nice looking fox Faunus was sitting down and looking right at her.

"Can, can I help you?" She asked the stranger.

"Maybe but I think I can help you more," she said with a smile.

"I doubt that," Ilia told her looking at her drink.

"Let me guess," she looked to be thinking about something intently before speaking again. "You're rethinking your life, had a crush that didn't work out and now you're feeling lost."

Ilia's head quickly turned to the woman next to her. "How-I mean what makes you say that?"

"I'm psychic," she smiled.

Ilia gave her a flat look, "And I'm the Queen of Menagerie."

"Well then your highness let me prove it with a palm reading," she held out her hand.

Ilia never believed in this kind of thing so she gave out a hand with a sigh. The woman seemed to stare at it as she gently seemed to draw delicately onto her hand. Ilia was starting to feel a bit warmer as the woman really was taking her time nearly caressing her hand.

"I see you've had a sad past, you felt abandoned by those you trusted. You joined up with a group that you felt you fit in. Felt that you were doing something important but no anymore. You've changed your mind about it and now you're searching for meaning. You were attracted to someone close to you but she didn't feel the same back."

"T-that's…" Ilia couldn't say anything as the woman now was staring at her right in the eye with a look that made the young Faunus woman's scales slightly go red.

"But it's not all bad, I see that you'll meet a stranger and that you two can have a good time together." She smirked.

"R-Really?"

"Oh yes I think I can see that clearly."

"W-well then my name is Ilia."

"Sylvia," she spoke up. "Mind if I buy us the next round?"

Blake looked at the other end of the bar with a smirk, things seemed to be going well. It was nice that Ilia could find something or someone in this case to take her mind off things.

"That was a nice thing you did." Sun's voice came from behind her.

Blake turned to face the blonde monkey Faunus, "How much of that did you see?"

"Well I was originally coming over but then I saw you getting hit on by that woman over there," Sun grinned at her.

Blake narrowed her eyes, "Never speak of that again."

"Okay-okay," Sun laughed. "So how about a dance or is your card saved up for Yang again?"

Blake looked to see that on the dance floor Yang and Jaune didn't look to be ending any time soon. She got up and slipped an arm into Sun's as they moved towards the dance floor. "I think that my card is all open tonight."

Yang couldn't believe how much fun she was having, Jaune was not only keeping up but also at times she felt there was almost a battle between them. Sometimes she had to pick it up to keep up with him and sometimes he had to do the same. It was exhilarating for her, the music, the lights, the sweating from the dancing and having a partner that could keep up with her it was just perfect.

She lost track of time and how many dances they had. One song just blended into the other as they just danced. There was nothing outside of it, no world saving, no danger, no stress, no pain, no past it was just here and now.

Then the music suddenly changed to a slower tune and both of them stopped for a moment.

"I think this is for couples," Jaune said scratching the back of his head. "Maybe we should go and get some drinks and-hey!"

Yang suddenly pulled him close as her looped her arms around the back of his neck in surprise. "Nope."

"What do you mean nope?"

"Nope." Yang smiled at him. "I'm having way too much fun and now I get to see if your slow dance skills are up to par." She started to sway to the music and Jaune was a bit flustered.

"A-are you sure?" he asked as his hands shyly went to her hips like he was taught for these kinds of dances trying very hard not to notice how much of a nice waist she had.

"Don't worry I trust you to be a gentleman," she told him holding him close.

Jaune really tried to focus on the dancing, he really did. But with this shirt on and him missing his usual breastplate and Yang's tight top he could feel everything pressing into his chest. Mainly her impressive chest and it was starting to get very distracting.

He really needed to think of something anything else. Looking down he started to look into her eyes taking a moment he couldn't help but notice something.

' _Huh, she really does have pretty eyes,'_ He thought to himself. _'How come I never noticed? Well it's not like I get this close to her all the time. Then again everyone I know seems to have unique eyes. Ruby's silver, Weiss' are the lightest blues I can remember, Blake's yellows are very cat-like which explains that. Even Nora has a unique pair of green.'_

A memory flashed of another pair of green eyes, ones that he wouldn't see anymore.

"Hey you okay?" Yang asked seeing the faraway look in his eyes.

"Just…wishing someone else was here to have fun with us."

Yang knew who he was talking about as she rested her head against his shoulder. "I know, we all miss her too and she would have loved tonight."

"Sorry to spoiling the mood," Jaune sighed.

"Naw don't worry about it," Yang pulled back. "So tell me how does one Jaune Arc learn to dance so well?"

"Well these things happen when you grow up with seven sisters."

"Seven!?" Yang's eyes widened.

' _Oh right I only told Pyrrha that,'_ Jaune remembered telling her at the dance but he really didn't talk about his family all that often. It just never really came up all that often, hell, he didn't even know anything about Pyrrha's family and Ren and Nora didn't really talk much about their pasts either back at Beacon.

After her shock, Yang's mind started to get into gear. "Please tell me you have a twin sister that looks like a female version of you."

"Uh, no sorry," he replied seeing her pout at that. "I do have twin sisters but they're older than me."

"Damn it I was really hoping on that," then something clicked in her mind. "Wait did they dress you up a lot growing up?"

Jaune's face went full on blush, "W-what makes you ask that?!"

She grinned seeing the panicking look in his eyes. "You were way too comfortable in that dress at the dance for it to be your first time in one."

Jaune groaned having his head fall forward. "Please don't tell the others."

"I don't know it is juicy," Yang nearly sang out.

"Yang!" Jaune pleaded.

"Okay-okay it's not going anywhere but I reserve the right of one favor to be paid at a later date." Yang told him.

"As long as it's reasonable…deal."

"Good now let's enjoy the rest of the song." She smiled at him.

He nodded his head as he got back into the moment between them. It wasn't so bad really. Yang was a good dancer, sure, she was a bit flirty but she was also a good friend and dancing with her seemed to be relaxing for some strange reason. He wasn't sure why but he just went with the flow of things.

Back with Ruby, Oscar and Weiss the three of them were chatting when Ruby noticed that someone was walking up to their table from behind Weiss. She didn't pay it much mind but when the person seemed to be going right to them, she focused her attention on this person and her eyes widened.

"Ruby, what is it?" Weiss asked seeing her reaction.

"Must have seen a familiar face Snow Angel," a voice Weiss knew came from behind her.

Weiss's blue eyes widened as she quickly turned around to see Neptune of all people.

"Neptune!? How, when, what are you doing here!?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah what she said!" Ruby asked smiling at seeing a member of team SSSN.

"Well we just got in today," He sat down next to Weiss. "I tell you we busted our butts trying to get here when Sun filled us in one some of the things going on here."

"So Sun knows you're all here and where are the others?" Ruby asked looking around.

Neptune grinned as he pointed to a specific spot, "Nope he doesn't know. I got him to text us what he was doing and when he said he was going here we knew we had to surprise him. Scarlet and Sage are about to let our wayward team member know."

They looked to see Scarlet and the taller one Sage walking up behind a dancing Sun and Blake. Blake noticed them first as she stopped and Sun seemed confused. But then Sage wrapped his arms around their friend from behind and gave him a huge bear hug that lifted the boy off the ground. They were too far away to make out what was being said but from the looks of it they were happy to see one another.

"It's nice to see you guys again," Ruby told him honestly.

"Back at you and I see you let your hair grow out a bit, nice." Neptune nodded.

"I thought about having a change," Ruby told him with a shrug. Honestly she just let it grow out because while on the road it was hard to find a place that could cut hair between villages and at one point she decided to keep it a little longer.

Neptune turned to face Oscar and had on a look on his face trying to place him. "Sorry but I don't think we met."

"I'm Oscar, Oscar Pine."

"Oh I think Sun mentioned you," Neptune then paused. "I thought you would be older."

"Yeah, you might be surprised," Oscar scratched the back of his head as Ruby and Weiss shared a smile about how inside of Oscar was their old headmaster's soul.

"You look great tonight," Neptune turned to Weiss.

"Thank you, it's very good to see you again." Weiss said back with a small smile.

There was a bit of an awkward pause in the group, Ruby wasn't sure if she should say anything as Weiss' attention was totally on Neptune and his on her as well. Oscar felt like a bit of a fifth wheel given he never met the older boy before now.

"So…would you care for a dance?" Weiss attentively asked him.

"Actually I would," He offered her his arm as she took it with a smile. They made their way to the dance floor and he looked at her. There was something different about Weiss, and he didn't mean her dress. There was something about her that just seemed different from the girl he remembered, he didn't think it was anything bad just, well he was having trouble grasping it. Maybe some time with her would get him to figure it out.

"I'm surprised you wanted to dance," Weiss said to him.

He looked a bit embarrassed and leaned to her to whisper as softly as he could with the music playing. "Please don't tell anyone but I've been…taking…" He muttered the last bit.

"Taking what?"

"Dance lessons…" He muttered slightly louder.

Weiss remembered that during the dance back at Beacon he had been, well to be polite not very good. It was obviously a sore point for him so she didn't want to make light of his attempts to improve himself. In fact trying to improve on something you knew you had trouble with was a good thing and she felt to reinforced that.

"You should be proud of trying to better yourself," She told him honestly. "Now shall we see what you learned?"

"Man I hope it's enough," He told her.

Ruby sighed as she watched Weiss and Neptune. It was great seeing team SSSN again and judging from how Sun and his team were being very animated over in their corner it made Ruby smile a bit. It was like how her own team got back together again. Now however everyone else seemed to be enjoying themselves, even Jaune!

Part of her felt betrayed by her 'co-socially awkward friend' but she couldn't fault him. He and Yang were having fun and both of them needed that.

"You okay Ruby?" Oscar asked.

"I guess just bored," She sighed leaning forward on the table. "Clubs just aren't me you know?"

"Yeah I do," He nodded. "This is my first time in one and I'm not sure what to do."

"I know right!" She exclaimed throwing her hands up. "I'm just more at home training, reading comics, working on Crescent Rose, video games stuff like that."

Oscar thought about it, "You know when I was bringing Qrow to our place here for the first time I think I saw an arcade."

"Really!?" Ruby's eyes lit up. "Do you remember where?"

"I think so at least it shouldn't be too hard to find right?"

Ruby got up and took his hand leading him to the door.

"R-ruby?"

"Come on we're blowing this place and going to have some of our own fun." Ruby smiled.

"Shouldn't we let the others know?" Oscar told her.

She pulled out her scroll, "I'll just text them. Come on, let's go have some fun."

Oscar let himself get pulled away as the two of them heading out into the night as they started their own search for some fun.

 **TBC…**

 **Next chapter I plan on showing what Ruby and Oscar get up to. I had planned on Team SSSN showing up a little later but I figured this might be a good time plus it was either this or have Weiss dance with some stranger and I'm not sure she would at this point.**


	9. Chapter 9: Ruby and Oscar's Night Out

**AN: Since I started writing this before Season 6 came out, it's now just started at this point in the story. So this will be AU from season 6 onward, maybe I'll add in a few things here and there if I feel it will fit with the story.**

 **Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 9: Ruby and Oscar's night out**

Oscar wasn't sure what to think as Ruby led him out of the building and into the streets. The night air was nice as she was quickly walking. He couldn't help but notice how her hand felt, the outside was smooth but her palm was rougher. He was no stranger to that growing up a farm hand so he wasn't surprised by it, his own hands were rough from years of work too after all.

Suddenly he realized something and voiced it to Ruby.

"So…do you know where you're going?"

Ruby paused, as she seemed to think about it and embarrassing let go of his hand and scratched the back of her head. "Uh…no I don't."

He couldn't help but smile as he started walking. "Well I think I remember the area but we'll have to double back to the house first and then go the way I came there for the first time."

"So it's a straight path?" She asked him following in step with him.

"Not as such," Oscar admitted shyly. "I had to find Qrow first and well…Ozpin told me to start checking every bar I could find."

Ruby sighed as her shoulders shagged. "Yeah that sounds about right."

She loved her uncle, she really did. He was the fun uncle you had, the one that let you try things your father wouldn't approve of. But his drinking was a bit of a problem, thankfully he was never a mean drunk or anything like that. It was just sometimes he would get a bit wasted when he was looking after them when their dad had to be away when they were younger. They had had to drag him to bed or roll him onto his stomach in case he threw up in the night on those times.

She learned more about the effects of drinking and about hangovers from her uncle than most people her age did she bet.

"I just have to try and remember to retrace my steps." Oscar said although he was trying to remember. This was a big city and he wasn't used to them, he hadn't memorized any street signs and he was largely going by landmarks. Unfortunately, things always looked slightly different at night when they do in the daylight so it was causing him some issues.

Even at this time of night the streets had plenty of people on them as they made their way back to their resident. From here he tried to retrace his steps as he started in the direction he found Qrow.

"So," Ruby tried to carry a conversation as she figured this was a good time to get to know their new friend. "You're from the small town too?"

"Yes, it's a small farming village," Oscar nodded. "I think I heard you say you and your sister are from somewhere called Patch once?"

"Yep," Ruby said happily. "It's a small island in Vale not that far from the mainland."

"Oh?"

"Yeah I mean I always thought it was big enough, takes you a few days to walk across it but that was before I had to walk halfway across the planet." Ruby laughed. "Boy I'll never complain about distance again when I get back home."

Oscar smiled at that, he thought of his aunt and he really hoped that letter he sent this morning would make it. He knew that she had to be worried sick and he hated doing this to her but this was just too important and she wouldn't understand. At least one day he hoped she would, plus he would try and make it up to her at some point. He had no idea how but he would try after all.

"What's Patch like?" Oscar asked taking them down a street.

"It's nice," Ruby thought back to home. "We live in this house in the woods it's not far from town, like a ten minute walk so we're not too far away in case of Grimm."

"Are there much there?"

"Yeah there are some, usually just Beowolves. Since it's an island not many can get across the water to get there."

"Makes sense," Oscar paused and looked around. He wasn't sure but he felt he had been here before but again at night things looked differently.

"Are you lost?" Ruby asked.

"A bit," Oscar sighed looking around. "I'm pretty sure it was somewhere this way, at least I was sure."

"Well there's one thing we can try then," Ruby went up to a stranger and asked for directions. The man didn't know so they went along the way and asked a few more people. Eventually they got someone that pointed them in the right direction so they started to walk. Oscar wasn't far off but he had been slightly wrong in which direction.

As they moved along the buildings got a bit more businesslike, there were a lot more shops in this area of the city it looked like. Ruby looked around taking it all in, from a small place like Patch large cities like this were always an experience. Then that was when she heard it, the chiming of a familiar tune that many youths knew, the small melody got louder as they continued on.

"Do you hear that?" She asked.

"Yeah what is it?"

Ruby gasped at she looked at him in shock. "You never heard the sounds of an ice cream vendor?"

Oscar shook his head, "Small farming village remember? There was only one shop you could buy that and it was in a small tub."

"Well then we're in for a treat," she smiled as again she grabbed his hand and led him towards the sounds. They turned a corner and there was a small ice cream truck parked handing out those cold delicious treats. Ruby's mouth watered at the thought of getting some ice cream.

They got up to the van as she quickly looked at the list and her eyes lit up as she saw her favorite.

"See something you like little lady?" The man running the van asked seeing her.

"Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream!" She excitedly said jumping up and down at the window.

He chuckled as he went to get a few scoops into a cone and came back. "That will be three Lien."

Ruby reached for her wallet but paused, she didn't feel it. She felt around for it but horror grew onto her face. She had forgotten her wallet when she had changed into this outfit. She still had her scroll but her wallet was most likely next to her weapon.

"Noooo!" She wailed.

"I got it," Oscar said handing him the money.

Ruby's eyes lit up as she got her cone. "Thank you so much Oscar! I can't believe I forgot it."

"How did you pay for your drink before then?"

"Yang got it for me," Ruby started licking her ice cream.

"I'll have a vanilla one," Oscar told him as he paid and started to eat his cone but then noticed Ruby's face. "W-what?"

"Vanilla, really?"

"What? I like vanilla."

"But it's…it's so plain."

"What's wrong with that?" He muttered looking down at his white ice cream starting to eat it. He liked vanilla, it wasn't as if he hadn't tried other types he had, he just liked this kind.

"It's just, it doesn't taste like anything."

"It taste like vanilla," he defended.

"Exactly."

"This from the girl eating basically cookie dough."

"Hey cookies are great so cookie ice cream is best." Ruby grinned at him as with her thoughts was that what she had said was perfectly logical and a fact.

Oscar rolled his eyes as he went to enjoy his ice cream.

Eventually they found their way to the Arcade, the building had the words Mistral Arcade in neon above it as the muted sounds of games could be heard from inside. Ruby was bouncing on foot to foot eager to go in. Oscar felt looking forward to it, they didn't have these in his village so he was eager to see what an actual arcade was like.

Ruby pulled open the door as they went in and immediately the sounds of various games and the flashes of lights and many voices hit them. Oscar looked around with wide eyes the place was about the same dimensions as the first floor of the place they were staying only the walls were lined with machines. There were rows of machines lined up next and back to back as there were many people more their own ages here.

"Wow it's a lot busier than I thought," Oscar had to raise his voice slightly to be heard.

"Larger city so more people to come here," She replied. "Now let's get some tokens!"

She found the small black machine that you put in money and get tokens as she waited for Oscar since he had all the money. Oscar smiled as he looked at the machine and saw how it worked, he put in enough money for each of them to have an equal amount of tokens between them. Looking around he wasn't sure what to try first.

"So any recommendations?"

Rudy looked around and saw the perfect game to start out on. "Oh look it's Dance Dance Remnant."

Oscar followed as she came to a large machine that looked to have some kind of control pad built into the floor with some kind of dance music coming out of it. Ruby got on one side so Oscar took the next one. Ruby eagerly put in her tokens and so he followed suit. Ruby picked a song as they waited for it to load.

"So how does this work?" Oscar asked her.

"When the arrows on the screen show up you hit the ones below you with your feet."

"So you don't like to dance in real life but in a video game you're okay?" Oscar asked with a bit of a smile.

"W-well this is different!" Ruby tried to defend herself but he wasn't sure how to explain it. "That with someone else and this I just have to worry about me and hitting the buttons at the right time. Real dancing is too complicated."

He was about to say something before the game started and his focus was quickly on the screen in front of him. It took him a few tries to get the right time on when he had to hit the pads below him. He focused his attention to just the screen and tried not to think too much. Although he found it harder than he thought.

A couple of times he found his footing missed or he used the wrong leg because he was getting used to a rhythm and when it suddenly switched up on him be couldn't keep up. He took a moment to glance at Ruby. She was smiling widely as she quickly moved with the music and she was really getting into it. Moving her body with the music even though she didn't need to, it was kind of captivating to the young boy.

It wasn't until he got a warning from the game that got his attention back to the screen as he saw that he was quickly losing and was about to get a failure rating. He quickly snapped back into it as he finished the song.

"Now that's fun!" Ruby jumped a little seeing her score. She looked at Oscar's and winced. "Ouch."

"Hey it's my first time playing this," He defended himself.

"Want another round then?" Ruby grinned at him.

"Do it," Oscar got ready as she put in the tokens.

There were various other games they tried throughout the night there was a Wack-A-Grimm, which Oscar made up for his loss in the dancing game in. Ruby was used to shooting things and not hitting them after all. They found a shooting game much to her joy although she did complain how the 'gun' didn't seem to track as a real weapon did. After that, they found a two-player fighter they went for best of three on that one. Oscar didn't really care if Ruby won most of those he was just having fun being with her.

After all the craziness that he had been going through, it was just nice doing something normal again. Something a kid his age would be doing normally instead of going off on an adventure with a voice stuck in his head. He had gone through a life and death fight and with everything going on, he just wanted to pretend that none of that was happening. If only for an hour, he just wanted to be a normal kid again.

In addition, it helped that he was doing all this with Ruby. Her energy was very infectious. It amazed him how she could be this great fighter and leader and yet still act like a kid just like him. Maybe she wasn't very different from normal people. This was actually one of the times he had seen her act so at ease since they all first met. He liked this side of her, this fun loving side.

"Oh look at that," Ruby found a small stall with targets and baseballs. Apparently, you got points for knocking down a certain number and type of targets and you could get a prize. It was all automated and the prizes were in a small plastic case next to the machine.

Ruby looked over the prizes and her eyes locked onto something that she just had to have. It was a small little teddy bear but it wore a cute little red hood like her own that she wore. It was as if destiny was calling her, she had to own this little toy. It was as if fate that they met and she would earn the points needed for it.

"I'm so going to win that," Ruby grinned as she put in her tokens. She was given three balls and so she looked at the targets as they started to move about. There was a small sign that showed what was worth what. She found a small Grimm cutout and threw her first ball, it hit as a ding sound was heard as it fell down.

"Yes!" She saw a readout of her points and looked for another target. She looked at a set of spinning targets and threw it but missed. "No!"

Looking at the points she needed she found she needed to the most points to win her prize. The problem was that what she needed to hit was the smallest target that was quickly going back and forth up high but the thing also made random stops. Biting her lip, she took careful aim making sure to track it, when she felt the time was right she threw the last ball.

To her horror the target stopped dead and her ball sailed past the point it would have hit.

"Oh come on!" Ruby shouted out angrily. Her end points didn't even add up to enough for the smallest of prizes. She went to grab more tokens but when she reached for more all she found was an empty pocket.

"Oh no, no-no-no-no." she searched everywhere on herself just in case she might have missed one but she came up empty.

"What's wrong?" Oscar asked.

"I'm out of tokens and I really wanted that prize," Ruby pouted and then looked to Oscar. "Do you have any more cash on hand?"

He shook his head, "I'm out, and these are the last of my tokens too."

Ruby looked a bit depressed, she wouldn't want to take his last tokens he had paid for the ice cream and for everything else too. She had made a mental note to pay him back as soon as she could but she really wanted that prize. She sighed looking at the small little bear.

Oscar saw this and put his tokens into the machine as his balls were given to him. He wasn't sure if he could pull this off but she really seemed to want that bear.

' _ **Need a hand?'**_ Ozpin's voice said in his head.

' _Can you make it?'_

' _ **Certainly just close your eyes when we switch so she doesn't see the glow.'**_

Oscar closed his eyes and made a show of taking a breath to make it look like he was concentrating. His eyelids hide the slight glow of his eyes as now Ozpin was in the driver seat. He tested out the ball, so far it seemed right, there was nothing at odd about it. Looking at the targets, he could see the patterns and saw which three targets he needed.

He threw his first ball and it hit, the second came soon after as Ruby cheered him on. When he got to the final ball, he noticed something. The ball seemed slightly heavier, it wasn't too much but he knew little tricks like this were used at times. It would help to throw off a person if only slightly if they didn't notice it.

He did notice and adjusted as needed, in his time in Oscar's body he had gotten used to the boy's height and reach. Although it had been some time since he had been resurrected in a body this young. It was odd being this young again normally, he came back in an older adult body. How long had it been since he had been this young? Maybe it was because of how soon he had come back, he wasn't sure. He didn't fully understand many things about this process, even after all this time.

Well at any rate the final ball hit the target and he quickly gave the boy back control.

"You did it Oscar!" Ruby jumped into him and gave him a small hug. "That was great!"

"I-it was just luck," He said and then looked at the prizes. He punched in the number as the machine accepted it and soon the little bear was pushed forward as it fell down. Oscar reached down and grabbed it through the small opening slot at the bottom.

He turned to Ruby and passed it to her. "Here, you wanted this one right?"

"Y-you're giving me this?" Ruby tenderly took the small bear looking at it and then at Oscar. "But you won you should have gotten a prize you wanted."

"Well I didn't really see anything I wanted and you really had your heart set on that." He scratched the back of his head. "Plus I wanted to thank you for, well you know, showing me a fun time and all. It's been a long time since I had this much fun."

Ruby smiled warmly at him pulling the small bear to her chest. "Thanks for everything too."

"Well we're out of money so what now?" He asked.

She pulled out her scroll and checked the time it was starting to get late. "We should head back I guess. Not like we can have any more fun here without some tokens."

Back at the house the rest of the teams were already getting back from the club. They were all in good moods, they had fun and it was just a way for them all to just act their age and not have to worry about the fate of the world or any other problems at the moment. They entered the front door and the first thing they noticed were Kali and Ghira at the main table with him looking over something.

"Hey mom, dad. What are you looking at?" Blake asked her parents as her father was looking at some kind of document with a very intent look.

"You're father is writing a speech that he'll be doing." Kali told her.

Her father nodded, "I've had time to think, working with the Faunus and the White Fang members in custody. I shouldn't have given up the leadership so easily back then."

He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I thought that with the way things were going no one wanted my kind of leadership. More and more young members were looking to Sienna Khan for leadership. I shouldn't have given up so easily. They may have wanted her leadership but what it wasn't what it needed."

"Seeing all those young men and women in prison because of the choices they made, the rifts made between friends and family. I wanted to create a group that was to promote our people's rights but maybe I should have gone a bit further."

"Dad?" Blake asked.

He smiled looking at his daughter and all her friends, "I think we also should have been trying to promote unity not only with Faunus but between Faunus and humans. Looking at the friends you've made helped show me that if we could forge bonds like that then equal rights and treatment would come with it."

Blake smiled at her father, "I think that's a great idea dad."

Kali then noticed something, "Wait you all left but where's Ruby, Oscar and Sun?"

"Sun's team showed up so he's spending the night with them catching up," Blake explained.

"As for my sis she and Oscar snuck out saying they were checking out something," Yang pulled out her scroll. "Maybe I should text her to see what's going on."

Before she even opened up Ruby's contact info the door opened as the two youngest members of their group walked in laughing at something they had been talking about. They paused seeing everyone look at them.

"Oh hey I was about to text you that we're back but you beat us here," Ruby smiled at her big sister.

"Have fun?" Weiss asked seeing the two of them.

Oscar looked a little bashful but Ruby was all smiles hugging a small bear to her chest. "Oh yeah, we found this arcade and had a blast."

"Wait there's an arcade here?" Nora asked with a gasp. "We so got to go there at least once."

Ruby turned to Oscar, "thanks for the fun Oscar, we should do this again."

"Really?" Oscar looked into her silver eyes and felt himself getting nervous at them but also he had to admit they were kind of pretty. "Y-yeah, sure."

"Cool, well I'm going to bed," Ruby walked past everyone to the stairs.

Yang's eyes never left her little sister as she looked at the young boy and how he watched her go up the stairs, it wasn't some kind of perverted look or anything like that. He did seem to take a lot of interest in her younger sister. She looked at the other three members of her team as they silently agreed to an unasked question between them.

Ruby was happily humming to herself as she was in the bathroom getting changed. She had a quick shower as she had worked up a sweat from all the walking and fun. Tonight had been a blast she hadn't hung out like that in so long. She had taken in her pajamas in with her to change into to save some time. Plus it was kind of a habit from when they all roomed at Beacon.

They might all be girls but they did want their privacy and that was most likely how Blake had kept her secret of being a Faunus all this time when she had to take off her bow.

Picking up her cloths, she walked out and into the shared room and stopped seeing everyone looking at her. They were each on their own beds but the atmosphere in the room was a bit too heavy. Was she in trouble for something? She didn't think so, it didn't feel like that and she hadn't done anything wrong. Was this because she snuck out of the club?

Putting her clothing away she asked, "Hey, what's up?"

"Kind of what we wanted to ask you." Blake said to her.

"Huh?" Ruby blinked sitting on her bed and picking up her gift from Oscar.

"What's with the bear?" Yang asked.

"Oscar won it for me," Ruby shrugged and then held it up. "See it's got a cute little cape just like me, I had to have it but when I couldn't get it, Oscar used up the last of his tokens to win it for me."

The three exchanged looks before Weiss spoke up next. "I think you should take it from the top."

So Ruby explained what they had done when they left the club, how they went out walking, how they found the ice cream stand, how they got to the arcade, everything until the moment that they got back to their place.

Yang blinked at all of this and then gave a small laugh, "Oh man I can't believe my little sister went out on a date."

"W-what!?" Ruby asked blushing madly. "It wasn't a date Yang! We were just hanging out!"

The three older girls again shared a look although this time with a little amusement to it.

"So let me get this straight," Yang grinned. "You two went walking out on a moonlit night together."

"I don't remember if it was moonlit, it was dark and there were street lights," Ruby defended.

"Then you get ice cream," Weiss said next. "Which he paid for."

"I said I forgot my wallet."

"Then you go to an arcade where he pays for everything again," Blake smirked.

"I'm going to pay him back," Ruby muttered not liking where this was going.

"Then he wins you a prize that you wanted," Yang shook her head. "Ruby, that's a date."

"Oh come on, can't a guy and a girl just have fun together and not be a date?" Ruby was exasperated by all of this.

"She did say she wanted to do it again with Oscar," Blake commented.

"W-well we can invite everyone else I didn't mean it exclusively!" the little reaper cried out.

"But does he know that?" Yang sighed. "My little sister is toying with the heart of a young boy, oh I never thought I would see the day."

"Yang!" Ruby shouted out angrily at her big sister's teasing.

"Well I suppose she could do a lot worse," Yang mused aloud pretending she didn't hear her sister. "He's a nice kid and I wouldn't have to worry about him trying anything."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Ruby demanded.

"Don't pay her any attention," Weiss said sitting down next to her partner. "She's just being Yang."

"Hey!"

"We're just happy that you had a good time," Weiss told her friend. "Maybe we just thought too much about it, you two just seemed really happy when you came in and after hearing what you said it sounded like things between you two were, well more than just friendly."

"It's not like that," Ruby said looking down at her bear. "I mean yeah we had a lot of fun but I've never been the girly-girl type of girl…if you know what I mean."

"I'm not used to the whole boy and girl thing," Ruby sighed. "I had a small batch of friends before Beacon and never really got into the whole dating thing. I didn't really have guys coming on to me like Yang did."

"Well when puberty hits you this hard," Yang gestured to her very curvy body and larger than average chest area. "It's kind of hard not to attract attention."

"Yeah and then there were those creepy guys trying to be nice to me so you would be nicer to them," Ruby sighed.

Yang pulled a face, "I hated that. As soon as I saw what those jerks were up to I kicked them to the curb, sometimes literally."

"Well still I've never been on dates or had anyone even ask me before," Ruby played with the little cape on the bear. "When I got to Beacon I was two years younger than everyone, plus I was made leader and had to catch up with my studies. I was so busy that I didn't even think about that kind of stuff."

"Oscar's the first friend I made that has a lot more in common with me when I was at Beacon at first. I just wanted to be a good friend to him like you all have been to me as well as Jaune, Ren and Nora."

"That makes sense," Blake told her as the others nodded.

"Alright we won't bug you about this," Yang said getting up. "Well I'm going to hit the shower, I swear I haven't danced this long or hard in a long time. Jaune really knows how to cut up a dance floor."

"You were dancing with him the entire time," Blake commented.

"I could say the same about you and Sun," Yang winked at her partner before leaving the room.

"Well I'm going to turn in," Ruby pulled her covers as Weiss and Blake got ready to take their own turns.

While they did that Ruby held the bear to her chest, it was soft and furry and as she thought back on tonight she had to admit. It had been fun, Oscar was nice and despite everything going on with him he was trying his best with a nearly impossible situation.

She smiled to herself as she suddenly realized she was thinking of Oscar in ways she hadn't really thought of him before.

' _Stupid Yang and her stupid comments,'_ she mentally grumbled to herself trying to sleep.

 **TBC…**


	10. Chapter 10: Magic Touch

**AN: Since I started writing this before Season 6 came out, it's now just started at this point in the story. So this will be AU from season 6 onward, maybe I'll add in a few things here and there if I feel it will fit with the story.**

 **Also this is when things start to get a little more heated hence the rating for this story.**

 **Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 10: Magic Touch**

It was another morning with the usual routine for everyone at least for most. Jaune had enjoyed last night, he enjoyed it a lot more than he thought he might. Everyone going on like that felt like a lot of the pressure that had been building in them had been let out. He hadn't really been to a club before and he liked it, well he liked it because all his friends were there. If it was just himself he most likely would have been in a corner by himself the entire time hating it all.

Jaune looked at the two beds with his teammates and friends still asleep and he had to smile. Them being together just felt right to him, hell he had thought they were together during school until Nora had said otherwise. Turns out all they needed was a little push to get together-together.

Jaune took a quick shower and changed as he left with Ren trying to wake up Nora when he got out of the bathroom changed.

"Come on Nora," Ren gently shook her.

She just muttered something before turning over.

"She's like this every day," Jaune sighed.

"Yes but I know how to wake her up," Ren told him. "Go on ahead we'll be down soon."

"Right I'll leave this to you then," He grinned as he walked out of the room leaving Ren to his apparent duty. He closed the door behind him and noticed he wasn't the only early riser at the moment, in fact it was Yang.

"Hey, you're up a bit earlier than normal," Jaune said.

Yang shrugged, "Weiss and Blake woke me up they should already be down stairs."

"Ah," Jaune paused for a moment. "You know I'm not really the kind of guy that goes out to clubs but last night was fun."

Yang smiled at him, "See, all we needed was to just go out and have fun. Plus you are one hell of a dance partner Mr. Arc."

Jaune felt himself flush a bit at the compliment as he scratched the back of his head. "Thanks, I've had a lot of practice. Growing up when my sisters wanted to learn how to dance I was stuck being their partner."

"Well it worked out for you," Yang told him. "You should know that girls love a guy that knows how to dance and you could really bust a move out there."

Jaune felt a bit embarrassed about the compliment. "Somehow I doubt being a good dancer would help with getting girls to notice me."

Yang raised an eyebrow, "Did you not notice some of the girls at the club checking you out?"

"What?" Jaune asked sharply but then relaxed. "Oh right, this is one of your jokes isn't it."

"No, I'm serious I caught some girls checking you out when we took a few breaks from the dance floor. You honestly didn't see them?"

Jaune looked at her for a moment but realized that she was actually telling him the truth. "Wait, seriously? Well it's not like they were coming up to me or anything."

Yang rolled her eyes, "That's because you were with me."

Jaune blinked a few times. "I'm not following."

"Oh my god you really are hopeless when it comes to girls," Yang said softly more to herself. "Okay Jaune you see a guy hanging out and dancing with a hot girl all night long what's the most logical reason for it?"

"Uh…that they're together?" He asked her hesitantly.

Yang smiled at him, "There you go."

"But we're not like that!"

"I know it and you know it, our friends know it but total strangers? Nope. Besides do you really want some random girl you picked up in a bar and will most likely not see again when we move on?" Yang asked him.

"No, not really," Jaune sighed thinking about it. When they left here, he wasn't even sure if he would ever see this city again. Plus he wasn't sure he wanted to just meet some stranger, he wanted to get to know a girl first. He was a bit old fashioned that way he supposed but he really hadn't noticed anyone looking at him. He wasn't used to girls taking notice about him and just wasn't sure what to do about it.

"So did you ever get any running gear?" Yang asked him changing the subject.

"Yeah, why?"

"Good because today I want to work on your cardio for today."

"We're not learning anymore moves?" Jaune felt a bit disappointed by that. He was learning a lot from Yang's hand to hand training. Pyrrha had focused more on his weapons and how to use them but when he had gone up against that Geist without a weapon with the others he knew he had a weakness he needed help to fix.

"Not today," Yang shook her head. "Cardio is very important for hand to hand because you can tire yourself out easily if you're not careful. Professional fighters do it all the time because they have to have the stamina to keep going longer than the other guy. First person to lose all their energy and the fight is pretty much over at that point."

Jaune thought about it and it made some sense to him. "Well, okay."

"Good meet me an hour after breakfast outside with some good running gear." Yang walked past him to the stairs.

An hour later and Jaune was ready for his first run with Yang. He had one some running shoes he picked up as his boots wouldn't be good for his feet. He mainly got a simple pair of jogging pants and a white T-shirt. He never was someone to go all fancy after all. Jaune made his way to the front door and saw that Yang was already there stretching out.

She had on an orange shirt that had no sleeves and didn't reach her waist but had on black track pants as she stretched out with her arms above her head and went side to side. Her long hair was done up in a ponytail again and for a moment he couldn't help but notice her. Yang was certainly a very attractive girl and she knew it as well.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts as he came up to her. "So, ready for our run."

"Good," Yang reached back as she lifted a leg back, grabbing the ankle and pulling it to her ass cheek to stretch out the muscles. "I asked around but Blake is going with her parents for his press event about his new group he's forming. Sun is going with him, Weiss doesn't have any running gear and the last time I ran with Ruby she keeps using her semblance and I can never keep up with her."

Jaune tried to hide the smile at Yang's frown at that last bit as she switched legs. "So she's still training with the others at the moment."

"So just us then." Jaune stated.

"Yep but don't worry I won't leave you in the dust…too badly." She grinned at him. "Now then get some stretching and we'll do some light work to loosen up the muscles before we start."

"Seems like a good idea," Jaune started his own set. It was one of the things that Pyrrha had taught him in their own training when they first started making sure he didn't injure himself by not warming up or cooling down. It was strange in a way, the time he was spending with Yang reminded him a lot of the times he had trained with his lost teammate. Oh sure he trained with Weiss and Blake to help him out with his swordsmanship but for some reason he felt a bit more of a connection with Yang recently.

In fact, he felt closer to her now than ever, ever since that night they had that talk together things between them had been different. Not in a bad way, they just seemed to form a bond in a way over sharing their pain that he hadn't expected. At least that's what it was like for him, he had no idea if she felt the same or not. Well at any rate, she was becoming a closer friend to him and he liked it.

After the warm up they started out on a jog, Yang had the lead as she already had the route in mind planned out. Spending some time here had let her get to know part of the city and she figured out a decent running path to take. Some people didn't like to run, she could understand why and sometimes she didn't either at least alone. When you ran with someone it felt better, it reminded her of the runs she would go with her dad when he was training her years ago.

She grinned remembering the first time she beat him in a race that had been a good day.

Yang could hear Jaune slightly behind her, sometimes he would get next to her and she was proud that he was keeping up. In their time together she had seen just how hard to worked to better himself in combat. She liked that kind of drive as in a way it mirrored her own to become stronger when she first started to train.

The streets were still not very populated as it was still early but they came across a few people here and there.

Jaune kept pace with Yang and he wasn't sure why but she seemed to go faster for a bit and then slower, she would do it again and again and he wanted to ask but with the amount he was breathing in and out he couldn't really get a word out. He just focused on keeping pace with her as best he could as she led him through the streets.

Yang was impressed he was still keeping up with her but then again she had learned the when Jaune put in effort he put everything into it and didn't try to give up.

A whistle caught her attention looking to her left across the street as a few boys around her age were sitting on some steps. Obviously a group of friends just sitting together and planning out a day when one of them waved to her.

"Hey babe, how's about you run that sexy ass of yours this way?"

Yang smirked but if this guy thought that kind of line worked on her he was sorely mistaken. She made a show of flipping her hair and not looking at him.

"Oh don't be like that baby," He shouted after her as his friends laughed at his attempt.

Yang rolled her eyes it she hated guys like that but a small part of her was glad that at least some guys weren't put off by her arm. After what happened in that club, she was starting to feel slightly self-conscious about it. Too bad the first guy that tried to hit on her that didn't mind was that kind of guy. Seriously, was it so hard to find a decent guy these days?

She was thinking about if she wanted to double back and give a comeback when suddenly she heard and felt a snap under her shirt.

' _Oh no.'_ She thought as her eyes widened. _'Did it just, yep it did.'_

Yang mentally sighed as her sports bra had just snapped. From the feel of it, it was in the back too because she could feel her babies up front lose their support and start to swing. This wasn't a new problem for Yang, ever since puberty she had lost count of the times this happened to her. Normally she liked to get bras that were durable but she got this one here and it wasn't the usual brand she bought.

' _Never go off brand,'_ she chided herself.

Jaune's mind however was focused on something else and that was how that guy had talked to Yang. At first, he had turned to see who had whistled but what that guy had said to Yang was starting to get to him. She was one of his friends and he didn't like people talking bad about friends, he had a lot of trouble making them before Beacon and the ones he made there were as close to him as his own family were.

He felt his jaw clench and forced himself to relax, Yang could take care of herself and if she felt that guy needed to be set straight she would do it. Hell, he might have to pull her off if she got really mad. It still bothered him though. Yang made a sharp right and soon he saw that they were going back, well that was good because he could use a bit of a rest not knowing that she was cutting the run slightly early because of a personal issue.

Yang avoided that last street not wanting to give that perv a show but now her back was starting to hurt. She hated it when this happened it was the price she paid for having a well endowed chest. Most guys see a girl with them and don't even bother to think of all the issues they cause. Now however she was hoping that they could get back before she ended up with a backache for the rest of the day.

She did everything she could to avoid thinking it but every street her back only got worst and worst and by the time they finally reached the front doors she had to stop and do something. She was breathing hard from the run but she had to bend down and rest her arms against the wall next to the door.

"Yang," Jaune breathed out heavily. "You okay?"

"Yeah just…give me a moment."

Jaune could hear the pain in her voice and started to get concerned. "Yang if you're hurt I can help."

Yang thought about it but she wasn't sure how his aura could help. Sure aura helped heal injuries faster so maybe it could help with her back. She would have to tell him why she was in pain though and it was just a bit embarrassing. Not looking at him she sighed.

"My back is hurting."

"Did you strain it?" He asked.

"Kind of…" She muttered something he didn't hear.

"I didn't get that."

"I said my bra broke." Yang hissed out slightly angry and embarrassed.

"Ohhh," Jaune was no stranger to this, growing up with so many sisters he had most likely seen more bras than most guys his age. Of course, they were his sisters so it's not as if he looked at them all that much but he always heard them when they complained about them being too tight or broke like with Yang's.

An idea hit Jaune as he suddenly remembered that he wanted to pay Yang back for helping him when his muscles had been overworked in training not that long ago.

"Well I could help with that," He shyly said to her. "I mean you helped me with my shoulder remember?"

Yang did remember, if it was anyone else she would have suspected a more hidden motive for it but this was Jaune. He was most likely the most trustworthy guy she knew next to Ren so she knew she was in safe hands. Another twinge of pain laced up her back made her choice for her.

"Alright let's do this before I'm stuck hunched over," Yang managed to straighten up with slight difficulty as she led the way to the room she shared with the others of her team. When they got there she saw that the room was empty as she flopped face down onto the bed.

It felt a bit better at this angle but she could still feel her back in pain.

Jaune wasn't sure on how to position himself he knew what he needed to do but he also didn't want to seem like he was doing anything other than helping her.

"You waiting for something?" Yang asked getting annoyed at the wait.

"S-sorry I just need to get in the right position okay?"

"Don't worry I trust you," Yang told him and it was strange how much she did trust him. Any other guy she wouldn't be so sure about as she felt his weight get on the bed as he sat over her legs just behind her ass. She felt him lift up her top just enough to get at her lower back and nothing more, well that was good on him, as he knew when to stop.

Then she felt his fingers gently touching her skin she could feel him trace her back muscles and she guessed he was finding all the knots and stuff he needed to find. Then he started to press harder into her muscles. She groaned a bit at the sore muscles being touched but when he was done and pulled back the relief she felt made her sigh a bit.

He continued on as Yang felt herself relax into the bed as he went to work. After a few minutes she had to ask him.

"So where did you learn something like this?"

"My dad actually," Jaune smiled at the memories. "He would do this for my mom all the time, especially her feet and legs when she was pregnant and apparently he got very good at it. I remember him telling me that it's a man's job to make sure his wife is feeling good."

"Your mother must be in heaven then," Yang sighed and then groaned as Jaune hit a good spot. Her mind started to wonder and she thought about what it took to have eight kids. Sure one day she would like to start a family of her own but eight!? Jaune's dad must have been a god in the sack for her to go through all the months of pregnancy all those times.

Then she thought about that myth about aura levels and stamina and she was starting to wonder if it was an Arc trait. She felt her face heat up and quickly pushed those thoughts aside, she did not want to go down that road. She tried to think about something else and an idea came to her.

"Hey how about trying to use your semblance at the same time?" Yang asked him.

Jaune paused, as he hadn't thought of that he was still getting used to the whole semblance thing. "Never thought about that, I've always wondered why aura doesn't seem to get rid of being tired and soreness at times like other injuries."

"Because aura can't stop the toxins building up in your body," Yang stated automatically. "You know it was in basic aura in your battle school before Beacon. I'm actually surprised it took you this long to unlock your semblance but I have heard of late bloomers."

"Oh yeah of course," He shifted uncomfortably since he had only told one person his secret of how he got into Beacon. He never went to a battle school or had any formal training. He guessed how aura couldn't stop toxins also explained why Qrow had nearly died from that poison on the way here. Still he felt bad about keeping more secrets from everyone. It didn't seem to matter much anymore since Beacon was lost and it wasn't as if anyone was going back there anytime soon.

"Hey is something wrong?" Yang could feel the atmosphere in the room change.

"I…Yang what if I told you that I didn't have any training going into Beacon?" Jaune sighed as he continued to work.

"What do you mean?"

"I, well that's to say…I used fake transcripts to get into Beacon." He finished quickly.

"You what!?" Yang turned her head to look at him and he looked down avoiding her sight. He looked so defeated in that moment. She thought about Jaune and hearing this suddenly a lot of things started to make sense to her now. Why he seemed to be so far beyond everyone in all his subjects, why he pushed himself so hard he was trying to catch up this entire time. She had years of training even before she went to Beacon both in school and from her father.

"What about your family? Didn't they train you?"

Jaune stopped as his shoulders slumped. "My dad is a huntsman for my village but my mom isn't. Since I'm the only boy the rest of my family were kind of protective of me growing up and my mom didn't like the idea of me learning how to be a huntsman."

Yang turned back around to get back into her original position to get more comfortable. "How in the world did she take you going to Beacon?"

"I managed to make a deal with her, if I could pass she would let me be a huntsman but if I failed I would come back home, well you know what happened."

Yang was silent for a few minutes thinking about all of that, she had to really rethink everything she knew about Jaune. She had just figured that he had lacked skills but the fact was, he had gone to Beacon with no skills or prepared for anything. Looking at how far he came in just under two years was amazing when you thought about it. He was fast becoming a good huntsman and she could only wonder how he would have been if he had actually been trained.

"Does anyone else know?"

"I only told Pyrrha," he said softly.

There was a moment of silence between them before Yang gave a small laugh. "Damn, who knew that you were such a rebel."

"W-what!?" That wasn't the reaction he thought she would give him.

"What? You getting into one of the best schools with fake transcripts, that's bold. I've done some crazy things but nothing like that," Yang smirked and shook her head, just when you thought you knew someone something like this happened.

"Well I nearly died because of it, I didn't have my aura unlocked until Pyrrha did it." He admitted.

That got Yang quiet as she hadn't thought of that. "Whoa."

"Yeah," Jaune nodded his head.

"Well I'll tell you this Jaune, not everyone could get as good as you have in such a short time. No matter how you got into Beacon you earned it and you've come far when you first started."

"Yeah I was kind of hopeless," Jaune chuckled as he started to work on Yang's lower back again.

"Pretty much," Yang sighed. "So about that aura massage?"

"Oh right well let me know how this works," Jaune concentrated and the white aura glowed over his hands as he pressed it into her muscles. Yang sighed in a good sign so he pressed his thumbs into her spine and that's when Yang gasped as her whole body seemed to lock up.

"Oh I'm sorry! Did that hurt?" Jaune stopped it immediately.

"N-no it didn't hurt," Yang told him. "It just, it just caught me by surprise you can, you know, do it again."

"You sure?"

She was silent for a bit before nodding. Jaune shrugged as he started to do it again, Yang bit into the pillow her head was on. Not out of any kind of pain but because she didn't want to moan out from it, she wasn't sure what he was doing but when he touched her spine with his aura like that it was like her entire nervous system lit up in pleasure.

Yang knew that she shouldn't be enjoying this, that she should have told him to stop but that jolt had been like nothing she had felt before and wanted to know if it was a fluke.

It wasn't a fluke.

She really did try but eventually a moan escaped from her mouth and not the kind of moan she had been making before but this was one of pure pleasure. She felt herself getting more and more turned on by the pleasure, it was like her entire body became just once large pleasure center. Her entire body heated up as it felt like Jaune was pushing all her buttons at once.

Jaune's face got more and more red as Yang's moaning was getting to him then she started panting and he wished she would stop teasing him. There was no way it was that good and all she was doing was making him feel awkward. He couldn't help but notice how soft her skin was how he could feel her muscles on her back. He was starting to become painfully aware of the sight of her ass as he tried so hard to not look.

"Yang!" Jaune stopped as he pulled his hands away. "That's enough teasing."

Yang's mind slowly started to come back to her as she realized what she had done and felt like wanting to bury herself under her covers in embarrassment. He thought that she was teasing him so she quickly decided to play it off.

"S-sorry couldn't help it," she quickly got up not facing him so he would notice how flushed her face was as she made a show of twisting her upper half. "Damn that's feels great though, I think I'll take a shower to get the sweat off."

"Right," Jaune quickly got up. "Glad to help."

"No problem," she waved as she quickly got into the bathroom. She closed the door and leaned her back against it panting. She heard him leave the room as she started to feel her heart rate slowly start to get back to normal. She sighed as she ran her hand over her face, just what in the hell had gotten into her? Yeah it felt great, amazing actually, but still she was dangerously close to actually getting off on that.

"Maybe a cold shower is what I need," she moaned as she stripped down. "Seriously though just what the hell was that."

She had stripped down to her underwear as she threw the now useless sports bra away. She would throw it out later but now her panties had a wet spot on it. "Just what in the hell did he do to me?"

Fully naked she took off her robotic arm, started a shower, and got in, she was thinking of making it cold but she hated cold showers. After a small debate, she set it to a warmer temperature as she got to work. Although she was used to showering with one arm it still was a pain, part of her wished she had a water proofed arm but you could only really get those in special shops outside of Atlas. Still an extra hand would be great.

"Maybe an extra set of hands," she muttered and shivered despite the warmth of the water remembering Jaune's touch. "Seriously Jaune those hands of yours are dangerous to girls."

She smirked at the mental pun of him having 'magic hands' and wished she had thought of it when he had his hands on her body. Now that she was clean there was one more problem, she was still very worked up and now she was feeling sexually frustrated. She was a healthy young woman after all and she had her own needs.

Yang couldn't really remember the last time she took care of her own 'itch' when she got into the mood. Had to be before The Fall that was obvious, she was too depressed to really think about that kind of thing and after she had been on the road trying to find her sister. This was actually the first break she had in months and now thanks to Jaune she was all worked up and needed an outlet.

"Damn it," She muttered but she was in a shower and no one was around if she was quick…

With her one arm she started to run it slowly over her body closing her eyes and trying to think of being with some hot guy. She could see it now, she and a faceless partner in the shower as he sensually caressed her. She imagined her running her hand over some solid body, in reality her hand went lower between her legs as she started to get herself off.

She started to lose herself in her fantasy, breathing harder as she worked herself up her hand moving faster now as she gave small moans. Yang could feel herself getting close to the end and just before she finally reached her peak her fantasy guy had turned into Jaune. Her eyes widened as she reached her peek and she bit her lip moaning out.

Breathing hard she just stood there shocked that Jaune had entered her mind, the fantasy guy's body had morphed into what she figured he was like as she had felt his shoulders that one time and she had felt his hands on her body again before she reached her peek.

' _What the fuck what that!?'_ Were her only thoughts.

 **TBC…**


	11. Chapter 11: A Growing Feeling

**AN: Sorry this took so long this was supposed to be out sooner but I've been sick with pneumonia for the past two weeks.**

 **I've going to bring in a few things although I will admit that the show has done at least three things I planned on doing before the episodes came out. I had planned for Jaune to find a memorial to Pyrrha (although it wasn't meant to be a huge statue) and her parents, to steal an Atlas ship (sea not air though) and meeting his family (but entire not just sister). So I might change it up a bit and yes Maria will show up as she's a good character and I don't want to miss out on writing her.**

 **Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 11: A growing feeling**

Yang had finished with her shower, changed and was currently lying on her bed staring up at the ceiling. Her mind kept running over what she had just done. It wasn't the pleasuring herself in the shower that got her, hell she did that back at Beacon. It was the fact that Jaune had showed up in her fantasy. Sure, she had thoughts about guys in the past that she knew but Jaune normally wasn't the type of guy she had those kinds of thoughts about.

' _Maybe I'm just thinking too hard on this,'_ Yang sighed as she mentally tried to work this out. _'Let's work this out. It's been months since I felt sexually frustrated so that much I get. Maybe it was just because of what Jaune did to me? Yeah that sounds like a good explanation.'_

' _Okay so he lights my fire and still on a high from that my mind just threw him in there because he was responsible to making me feel like he dipped my entire body in pure emotional bliss. How the hell did he do that anyway!?'_

She was seriously wondering about that, the massage was great but when he added in the aura with touching certain areas she felt like she could have reached and actual orgasm if he hadn't stopped and it was just him touching her bare back. A small part of were wondered what if he was touching other areas but she quickly shut that train of thought down. Turning onto her front and burying her face in her pillow, she groaned.

Yang was sure this was all due to all the stress she had been under for the past few months. First the whole Fall of Beacon, then losing an arm, her months of depression and now all the craziness she was involved with now. Maybe that was all just building up inside of her and this was her minds way of dealing with it all?

She sighed, that made no sense to her.

Rolling onto her back, she grunted in a growing sense of frustration about this. _'Why is this so much of a big deal?'_

' _So I thought of Jaune while masturbating so what? I've thought of guys before, so it's someone I know and a friend and it's a bit weird but it's not like I got a lot of options here. The only other guys I'm around is an uncle, a boy four years younger than me and who has a very old man in his head, another friend that is currently dating another friend. Jaune's the only single guy my own age so it makes sense if he shows up, right?'_

She thought about it and it wasn't too bad, Jaune wasn't that bad of a guy honestly. He treated her with respect, she had been having fun training with him and dancing so it wasn't all bad. Plus she did like her guys taller than her too and he was much taller. He had gotten a bit more athletic in build too, he still was a dork at times but he had this more serious streak in him, almost grown up.

Maybe that was part of his charm though?

Yang thought about it a bit more and she had to admit that Jaune wasn't the same dorky guy she had met who had thrown up on her shoe the first time they met. Sure, he still was a dork but he had grown a lot since then. In the end, she had to admit that without her realizing it, Jaune had actually started to become a good guy. Not only that but possibly even a bit of a hot guy?

Yang frowned, she wasn't sure that fit exactly. Jaune wasn't ugly but he wasn't overly hot either. He was above average that much was true but it wasn't just looks, it was everything when you look at the whole package. All the little things about him seemed to add up to a whole.

"I wonder if this is what Pyrrha saw in him," she mused to herself. Part of her wished she could talk to her friend again, for many reasons actually, but that was a question that unfortunately had died with the red haired warrior. No one but Pyrrha knew why she liked Jaune, not even Jaune knew why someone like her apparently. For someone who could have had their pick of anyone they wanted, she had picked the most unlikely person to desire.

But in that moment, Yang thought she was starting to see part of the reason Pyrrha might have started to like him.

"Maybe I should start calling you lady killer instead of vomit boy," she smirked to herself. She shrugged it all off as she quickly got up off the bed and stretched out. Her back really did feel a lot better than it had in a while.

In the end she decided to just accept things and roll with it, Jaune was moving up in her book and that was that. Sure, it came out of nowhere and blindsided her and she figured that was what really threw her for a loop. That she didn't see it coming but now that she worked it out she felt she could allow things to get back to normal. She paused as a smirk grew on her face.

Then again, maybe a little teasing now and then could help liven things up after all, he did make the best embarrassed faces after all. Maybe that would allow things to get back to normal soon. Besides after what he did to her getting her all hot and bothered like that she deserved a little payback.

In another room, Jaune had also showered and cleaned up but his mind was starting to get confused with similar thoughts that Yang was having.

' _What possessed me to try that?'_ he mentally moaned out. He still couldn't get the sensation of her skin against his palms. How smooth her skin was the warmth of her body and then there were the sounds she had started to make. Oh god the sounds, he was fairly sure that if it had gone on he would have gotten the most embarrassing erection at that point. Given how he had been positioned on top of her there would have been no way she wouldn't have noticed if it had happened.

Jaune didn't even want to think of what she might have done if she had.

Still, despite that he couldn't stop thinking about it. He had never really been in such an intimate position with a girl like that. He was sitting on his bed lost in thought he really wished he would just forget what happened. Yang was becoming a good friend to him lately and not only that, she was Ruby's older sister. Ruby was his best friend, someone who had helped him to be a better leader and he felt bad about thinking these kinds of thoughts about her sister.

Hell he had plenty of sisters so he knew what it feels like to have guys just thinking of them like that.

Still he couldn't get Yang out of his mind and it was starting to drive him crazy. He sighed as she sat down on the bed and groaned.

"Why did I have to offer her a massage? Why did she have to make those noises?" He moaned. He needed to talk to someone but the question was who? The only person he felt he could confide in was really Ren. The girls were kind of out of the questions being so close to Yang. Nora might get too carried away. Oscar was too young and he wasn't sure he could trust Ozpin.

Qrow was right out, for several reasons.

He didn't really know Blake's parents well enough or Ilia although she might give him an outsider's perspective so maybe she could be someone but they were basically strangers at this point. Sun, well maybe he was someone. He was close enough that Jaune considers a friend and he might have some advice but when it came right down to it Ren was Jaune's best male friend and closest thing to a brother he had in his life.

So it was decided then.

Jaune got up and left the room and started his search for Ren. He checked the inside of the home they were staying at, not in the kitchen, the living room or even the training areas. He paused and thought about what Ren liked to do. He did like quiet places at times to meditate so he tried outside next. The training yard in the back was empty for the moment but there sitting down by the wall still as a rock.

Jaune paused because Ren looked like he was really into what he was doing. Disturbing him now seemed kind of wrong so with a sigh Jaune went to turn around.

"Something on your mind Jaune?" Ren asked without opening his eyes.

"Sorry I didn't want to disturb you," Jaune apologized.

"Nonsense if you need my help then please," Ren opened his eyes and patted the ground next to him.

Jaune made his way over and sat down. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to cross his legs like Ren had but he tried anyway. He did have to pull his legs a bit to get it just right, maybe he should look into some agility training at some point. When he was comfortable, he tried to think of where to start, Ren was patient as ever as he waited for Jaune to compose himself.

"Well I did something and I'm not sure how to feel about it," Jaune paused scratching the back of his head. "See I went with a run with Yang and things were mostly well but something happened and she ended up with back pain. So I offered to help with it, I have some experience with massages to get rid of muscle pain."

"Really?" Ren asked him cocking his head to the side. "You never mentioned that before."

"It never came up before," Jaune shrugged. "You never pushed yourself too hard, Nora doesn't seem to get muscle pains no matter how hard she pushes and Pyrrha…well she had years of training for her tournaments that I guess made it so she knew exactly what to do."

Ren nodded his head at that although he noticed it was still a bit hard for Jaune to talk about Pyrrha. Honestly, they all had moments but at least lately, Jaune was starting to use her name more and privately he hoped that he was slowly healing a bit from her loss. "So you gave Yang a back rub?"

"It was more like a deep tissue massage," Jaune correctly innocently. "I've helped my sisters with that and stuff before but I've never, well I've never tried it with another girl before. One of the reasons it never came back up at Beacon I guess. I mean I couldn't see Nora or Pyrrha asking for them."

Ren had to nod at that point both girls wouldn't have been able to ask for that. Despite her energetic outlook, Nora could get flustered when things got personal like that. As for Pyrrha, she wouldn't have been able to work up the nerve most likely.

"So did something happen?" Ren asked.

Jaune paused thinking about it. "Well…not exactly? I mean I was doing a good job from the, well, sounds she was making."

He blushed a bit as he shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Well then I tried to see if I could use my semblance to you know, help out and then she started to, really moan."

Ren cocked an eyebrow as he thought about it. "Normally when you use your semblance you just have to touch someone but now you're pressing your hands against them I guess would 'push' your aura into the other person."

"Really? It's not dangerous is it?" Jaune was starting to worry a bit. He finally had a semblance but he was still learning what he could do with it. He really wished he had paid more attention in class when it came to aura, he felt he just didn't know enough on the subject.

Ren had to think on it. "I'm no expert but aura can repel people and can be harmful if you're not careful."

Jaune hadn't even thought about that, he could have hurt Yang by doing that! He was just glad that hadn't happened.

"But it seems like everything went well at least." Ren continued.

"Yeah a bit too well," Jaune blushed at the memory. "Well she was, well she was very vocal about what I was doing."

"Vocal?"

Jaune blushed even more. "Well she was making sounds that, well if anyone outside the room was listening wouldn't be thinking I was just giving her a massage."

"Oh." Ren blinked at that. "I can see why that might have been troubling."

"That's not the worst of it," Jaune sighed in defeat. "I keep thinking about it, I just wanted to laugh it off and get back to normal but I keep thinking about it. How her skin felt, the way she, well enjoyed herself. This is Yang, a friend and I feel like thinking about a friend in this way is, well that I shouldn't."

Now Ren saw where this was coming from, Jaune was the kind of person that respected his friends and unlike other young men would feel guilty about something like this. Ren could kind of understand where he was coming from. Before he got together with Nora he had moments like this himself, they had been childhood friends for so long that any other thoughts seemed like something he shouldn't have been doing.

It wasn't until recently that he started to look back on those thoughts and was starting to wonder if maybe his feelings for Nora had always been there and he just didn't want to admit it. That brought a thought to Ren's mind as he looked at Jaune. Could it be that he had feelings for Yang?

"Jaune, do you think of Yang as attractive?" Ren said calmly.

"W-w-what!?" Jaune wasn't expecting that question from him.

"It's an honest question, do you?"

"Well, I mean, she is very, not that I've looked mind you," He stuttered. Did he think Yang was attractive? Of course, there were a lot of girls he hung out with that were attractive these days. He seemed to surround himself with good looking girls that were also very strong. Yang however was a bit above the norm. Everything about her just screamed 'sex appeal' at least on the surface, he knew that behind that was a young woman that loved her sister and friends so much that she would do anything to protect them.

Jaune was silent a moment hanging his head, "Yeah I, yeah she is attractive, but she's also a friend Ren! I mean she's Ruby's big sister and she's one of my best friends."

"You didn't have any issues when you were asking Weiss out all the time," Ren said.

Jaune winced a bit looking back he had seen that he might have been a bit too strong in his pursuit of Weiss. "We weren't friends back then. She was Ruby's friend and teammate, we only kind of recently started to really become friends."

"And since Yang is a friend you're feeling guilty thinking of her like that?" Ren surmised.

"Yeah," Jaune sighed.

Ren thought about it for a moment, "Jaune I can tell you that thinking these things are normal."

"Really? So have you ever thought of Nora like that, at least before you guys got together?"

Ren couldn't hide the small blush about it. "There…were times."

Sharing a small room with her hadn't exactly helped those matters at times but he hadn't been ready to admit what the source of those thoughts were until now.

"Jaune I have to ask, maybe you're thinking these thoughts because you might see Yang as something more than just a friend?" Ren asked him.

Jaune looked shocked by what he had said. "What!? I mean sure Yang is, well she would be nice as a girlfriend but there is no way someone like her would see me in that light. It would be like Weiss all over again and I don't want to go that route. Yang and me are getting closer as friends and I don't want to mess that up like I nearly did with Weiss."

All his times perusing Weiss he could now see were most likely annoying to her. If he had just asked her out once and then let it go, it might have lead to him and Weiss being friendlier at school. It wasn't until after the dance when he had stopped chasing her that things between them started to slowly get better. He was finally getting somewhere with Yang as a friend and he didn't want to ruin that.

Besides what were the odds that Yang of all people would end up liking him? Yang was just way out of his league.

"Well if you're sure about that then," Ren didn't want to push things. He wasn't sure how Jaune felt about Yang. If he only saw her as a friend then that was okay as well. Ren just didn't want Jaune to miss out again on a possibility. Pyrrha had waited too long and now anything that could have happened was long gone. He had seen how much of a hole in Jaune's life it had left in him, he and Nora had talked about it when they were alone and both of them were worried about Jaune.

He seemed angrier at times and it wasn't healthy for him that light that had been inside of him that had grown at Beacon, the light that made him a good friend and a leader that they all had been proud to listen to had slightly waned. For a moment, he was wondering that maybe finding love again would help heal those wounds he kept inside. If such a thing would work, it had to be natural though and pushing him towards something he may or may not be ready emotionally for would only harm him more.

Ren focused his mind and tried to think of what to say next to him.

"Jaune I can say with certainty that you are a good man, one of the best that I've ever known." Ren opened up to him. "I can't see you doing anything that would change that. If you felt an attraction to someone you feel was attractive then there is nothing you can stop it. So let me ask you, did you act on those thoughts?"

Jaune paused for a moment. "Uh…no I just kind of tried to keep focus on my job."

Ren smiled a little with a nod. "That's why you shouldn't be too hard on yourself. How many other guys would have acted in your place?"

Jaune's thoughts immediately went to that guy that cat called Yang during their run. Yeah he wasn't someone like that, that was for sure.

"So…it's okay to think on these things?"

"It happens to everyone Jaune," Ren told him.

"I just, well I've never had many friends growing up, especially female friends." Jaune scratched the back of his head. "This is kind of new territory in a way. I've liked girls in the past but I've never had female friends like I do now and it's kind of strange to think about at least one of them like…well like that."

"Like I said it's natural and it happens, plus you're not the kind of guy that would act inappropriately about it."

"Yeah…yeah I think you're right," Jaune felt a bit better now maybe all he needed was a bit of a talk with someone to help straighten out his head. "Thanks Ren."

"Anytime," he replied.

Later in the day mostly everyone was gathered up in the living area catching up. On the TV was a recording of a Ghira's speech. It was him with his wife at his side as he was addressing a small crowd of reporters. Ever since the White Fang had been defeated by a group of faunus led by him the public were anxious for a statement from the former leader of the same organization.

 **' _Today the world has seen that not all faunus want violence. That there are those that will stand up for what's right against anyone that would use violence or bring more violence into this world.'_**

"This is so cool," Ruby smiled as they were watching the broadcast.

"Ruby we were there in the crowd, remember?" Weiss asked her.

"I know but it's cooler seeing it on TV, we were off to the side," she defended herself.

"You always did cut a nice profile," Kali said running a hand over her husband's arm.

 **' _Many of you have questions but I only have a few answers. Many have heard the reports of the death of Sienna Kahn. This is unfortunately true but it was not by human hands as the White Fang have led you to believe.' Ghira was shown to hold up a scroll. This was the one Ilia had which held all the information she had at the time. "I have here proof that it was done by none other than Adam Taurus. The same man that lead the attack here and who abandoned his fellow White Fang members.'_**

They could see a large reaction out of the audience on the TV from that which wasn't surprising.

"I bet Adam won't have many friends left in the Fang after this," Yang said crossing her arms.

"He never had friends," Blake said watching reporters asked many questions at this point. "But anyone allied with him will think otherwise now. Sienna was a popular leader and if he killed her that will alienate those loyal to her at the very least but leaving the others behind like he did?"

"They'll view that as treason, at least to some," Ilia finished. It was strange watching this, that was her scroll that held that information, information that just might make the White Fang implode. It wasn't even that long ago that she was a diehard fanatic for their cause. Now here she was living in a small home with the former leader of the White Fang, Blake her friend again that many felt was a traitor for leaving, humans that she honestly was starting to like as friends.

One of which was a Schnee of all things! It wasn't even that long ago that she felt she knew her life and here she was with it completely upside down and yet, she was starting to feel happier now then she had felt in a long time.

 **' _I will give out this information to everyone that wants it,' Ghira spoke again. 'But I've come to realize something lately. I've come to see that the White Fang, which was originally a peaceful organization for Faunus rights, has lost its way. At first, I wanted to see if I could reform it but it might be too late for that. Instead I've come to see that there is another way to ensure Faunus rights.'_**

 **' _Through my daughter and her human friends I've come to see that if Faunus are to gain equal rights then we shouldn't segregate ourselves. Therefore, I've come here to announce that I will be forming a new organization. One that will foster a deeper bond between humans and Faunus by allowing both groups to enter into this organization.'_**

 **' _This new Unity organization's goal will be to bring together both our people. This organization will help give a voice to those that wanted to speak up. It will be a place to help each other and bolster friendships and understanding on both sides.'_**

"I like this idea," Ruby smiled. "If everyone can get along it will help a lot."

"Although it won't be as easy as that," Ghira sighed. "But it will be a start at least. Maybe this time things can be different."

The front door opened as everyone looked to see Qrow walk in.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby zipped over to her uncle. "How did things go?"

"Not well," He sighed as he made his way to an empty chair and sat down. "I tried all my contacts, at least the ones that I trust."

After Leo's betrayal he was making sure not to let too much out, there was no telling how many people had been compromised by Salem at this point. They knew she had agents but now they saw just how far their reach was and it was actually kind of a scary thought. He had even thought of going to Little Miss Mistral but thought better of it. He has used her sources before but he also knew that spider of a woman wouldn't hesitate to sell them out if she make some money off it.

"So there's no way to get to Atlas?" Ruby worriedly asked.

"Well I did find a little useful info at least," He pulled out his scroll as someone turned off the television. A hologram popped up as an area of Mistral was shown in the north in red. "Turns out not everyone was pulled back like we thought."

"There's still an Atlas presence in the city of Argus." He told them.

"Wait, Argus?" Jaune perked up at that.

"You know it kid?" Qrow asked him.

"My oldest sister lives there," Jaune explained.

"Oh that means we get to finally meet some of your family if we go?" Nora asked him excited at the prospect.

"Yeah most likely."

"Well it would be nice to have someone there we know." Qrow stated. "Never been there myself but I have heard of the place. It's a major port city but even with the boarders down they should at least have a ship of some kind that if we're lucky we can take to Atlas so we can get that artifact to a secure location."

"Are you sure it will be safe there?" Blake asked him next.

Qrow shrugged. "As long as we got that thing we got a target on ourselves and without the maiden to seal it back up the only other option is to hope Jimmy can lock it up so tightly that it will take a full on army to get to it."

"So how do we get there, we don't have to walk do we?" Ruby really hoped they didn't have to. They walked all the way here and it took forever to do and with winter showing up she didn't like the idea of walking through all that snow for the entire season. It was why she had waited until the spring to leave him after all.

"We can get a train there," Qrow told her. "Although the tracks have seen some Grimm activity so they're sending out huntsman to clear the area or at least thin out the more problematic ones. I'll see when we can book passage and get us there."

"So you'll all be leaving soon then?" Kali had enjoying seeing her daughter again and meeting her friends but she knew that this couldn't last forever. She just hated seeing her precious little girl leave again.

"Yeah," Blake's ears fell slightly.

"I think we have a lot to plan for," Ruby stated.

 **TBC…**


	12. Chapter 12: Alone Together

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 12: Alone Together**

Jaune was going through his stuff trying to think of what they would need for Atlas. From what he figured, he would need some warmer clothing as Weiss had said that Atlas was cold and with winter coming Jaune had a feeling it might get pretty cold up there.

With a sigh, he realized that he really didn't have much in the way of winter clothing. It would take some time to get the next train to Argus. It would be nice seeing Saphron again, the last time he saw her and his sister-in-law Terra had been the last family gathering before he left for Beacon. He'd also only seen his nephew Adrian when he was first born. The little guy would be a toddler by now when he thought about it.

Jaune decided he needed to go out and see if he could find something out in the town. Maybe he could find someone to go with too. Going downstairs, he saw a Ruby and Oscar playing a game on their scrolls connected to the television.

"Hey where is everyone?" Jaune asked.

"Blake went with her parents to help set up somewhere for her dad's new group, Ilia went with them and Sun went with them as well as his team and since Neptune was there Weiss decided to go as well." Ruby explained not even looking at him as most of her concentration was on the screen.

"Oh," Jaune scratched his hair. "That it?"

"Nora dragged Ren off somewhere and Uncle Qrow," Ruby sighed at his name. "He said he was going for a drink and would be back soon."

Ruby really hoped that her uncle would keep it in moderation this time, the last time he went out drinking was when Oscar found him all plastered and dragged him back to this house when they first met.

"You didn't join them?" He asked curious.

"Uncle Qrow wants at least one of us guarding that," Ruby pointed to the golden lamp like artifact that they had been keeping sitting on the table in front of them. "Since we're getting ready to go he doesn't want it out of sight given all the trouble we went to get it only to lose it or something just before we leave."

"Oh okay then, well have fun," he told them.

"You want to join us?" Ruby asked.

"I got something to take care of maybe when I get back," he shrugged at them going for the front door.

"Hey wait how do you do that?" Oscar cried out as Ruby only laughed to herself.

Jaune smirked and shook his head as he left from the front door. He thought he saw a shop that might have what he needed in the downtown area. As he was leaving the house, he heard sounds coming from the small garage. As he walked towards it he saw Yang, her coat was off to the side as she was sitting down next to her bike doing something.

For a moment he paused as he was about to say something but he froze for a moment. Yesterday played out a bit again in his mind and he wasn't sure what to do. Even after his talk with Ren, it was still a little uncomfortable to be around her at the moment. Sure, it wasn't as bad as it had been yesterday but maybe a few more days and he might be able to just put it all behind him.

He was about to turn around when Yang turned to see what she had caught in the corner of her eye.

"Oh hey Jaune." She said in a friendly tone.

"O-oh hey Yang," He stood there a part of him cursing his luck. "So uh, what are ya doing?"

"Well since we're leaving soon I wanted to make sure Bumblebee is all set to go since I'm not sure when the next time I'll have a chance to do any kind of maintenance work on her will happen." She stood up and stretched out her back making a few light crack sounds from being hunched over for so long. "I just need to do an oil change and I'll be good to go, only one problem."

"What's that?"

"No oil in this place," Yang sighed gesturing to the small garage.

Looking around he noticed that while there was a space for a small vehicle there didn't really seem to be much in the way of anything else. Thinking back they did have to restock all the food when Lionheart gave them the place to crash. So it stood to reason this room would be the same as the rest of the building.

"What are you up to?" Yang asked him picking up her coat.

"I was just going out to look for some winter clothing since it's going to get cold when we start moving north." He explained.

Yang thought about it and it made some sense her traveling clothes were okay but her shirt under her jacket wasn't exactly made to cover much. Well she could do that later they still had some time before they left after all as first she needed some oil for her precious bike. The poor girl had gone all this way without any maintenance and she took care of her bike as she took care of her hair.

Actually that reminded her she was running low on her hair care products.

"Well I need some oil and a couple of other things, you mind me going with you?" She stood up and brushed herself off. She hadn't started on the really dirty jobs yet since she hadn't the materials she needed. Maintaining her bike was one of the few things, she didn't mind getting all dirty for.

Jaune knew it was silly to be hesitant about being alone with her but he knew it was just silly. Yang was his friend, a good friend now actually and with everyone else busy he would like the company. He was used to being around a lot of people growing up after all.

"Yeah I think it would be nice." Jaune told her.

"Of course it will be nice," She smirked at him. "You'll be with me and I know how to have a good time."

Jaune shook his head as they made their way down to the main streets of the city.

 **-Elsewhere-**

Out in front of a small building stood Ghira with his wife as they looked at it, they had been working towards starting up the first chapter of this new Unity group. Of course, the first step had been to establish a place for people to gather. It was like the days when they first started up the White Fang as he saw people moving in furnishings and other small things. They were of course mostly donated and those that weren't were from second hand stores.

After all, they hadn't step up a proper donation drive yet but it was a start.

"Reminds me of how we started out," He commented.

Kali nodded with a smile, "Those were good days, we were filled with so much optimism and hope."

"Simpler times," He sighed. He hadn't liked how the White Fang had degenerated from his time of a Faunus rights group to a violent group of terrorists and extremist. For a moment, he felt a sliver of fear in his heart. Would the same thing happen this time as well? Would he make the same mistakes? The White Fang had been his creation but it had gotten away from him and turned into a monster.

When his daughter had fully explained what the White Fang had done as Beacon that night he hadn't slept thinking that all those deaths could be laid at his feet. Yes, he had left before the group had turned that violent but was he not responsible for its origin? How much could a man be blamed for his creations when turned to evil? Was this was the person who figured out how to use dust felt when the knowledge was turned into weapons? When the first weapons were used in a war against fellow Humans and Faunus instead of the Grimm?

"Ghira?" Kali asked him seeing him go quiet. She knew that he was thinking and they weren't pleasant thoughts.

He shook his head, "Sorry dear, it's just…I don't want history to repeat itself."

She took his hand and squeezed. "It won't, this time will be different because this is different. Just take a look."

There were many Faunus in the group but they could both see a few humans as well. Not just their daughter's friends or the teammates of Sun's either. A few humans came to join after the press conference he had given. Somewhere there to support their friends who were Faunus and he saw one mixed couple as well. A Faunus woman and her Human boyfriend by the looks of it, he watched as both races came together to try and set up something that he hoped would bring together both people.

In that moment he felt his heart lighten, yes this was different. He could feel it in the atmosphere, in how they were working together. This was different and maybe just maybe, it gave him a bit of hope for the future.

"Hey I can help with that." Sun's voice called out.

"Wait, Sun don't!" Blake responded, as there was a small crashing sound of something falling.

"Oops." Sun replied.

"I really don't like that boy," Ghira narrowed his eyes at the monkey Faunus.

Kali had to hold back her laughter, personally she liked Sun. He was a funny boy and he could see that he deeply care for their daughter. In addition, she felt he was good for Blake he pushed her to be more social and outgoing.

To try and enjoy life which was something she had tried to do with her growing up but it hadn't been easy. Looking at her daughter scolded the boy she couldn't help but smile, as she could tell that Sun meant something to her daughter as well. She had seen it back home and she had hoped her daughter had found some kind of happiness but she seemed to be keeping up some walls.

Blake did that as times when something or more importantly someone hurt her. Maybe it was time to finally have a mother and daughter talk with her when they were ready. A rumbling sound could be heard as they looked up to see dark clouds coming in.

"Just perfect," Ghira didn't want everyone to get wet moving things in as he stepped in. "Hurry up everyone before it starts to rain or you'll get drenched."

"I hope not," Kali said to herself looking up as she started to help too. "This looks like it might be a nasty one."

Across the city, two young adults were running through a rainstorm. Yang and Jaune had been in the middle of finishing their shopping when the rain started to fall on them in the middle of the street. It wasn't a light rain either as it was a Minstral rainstorm. Being closer to a tropical climate, this area of the world could get hit by rain from time to time. Sometimes it wasn't too bad but at times like this, it could get downright nasty.

This was more in the nasty category.

"We should have grabbed an umbrella!" Jaune shouted as they tried to run back to their place.

"Those cheap ones we saw wouldn't last more than five minutes before blowing away!" shouted back as her irritation started to grow. Of course, it would rain on them and of course, it would pour as well. For a moment, she was wondering if her uncle's bad luck could be passed on through her family or something.

"Maybe we can find a place to get out of the rain then," Jaune offered looking around. The streets were getting deserted fast the people that lived in the city knew when bad weather was coming and shops were closing shutters and windows. Restaurants had already pulled in chairs so they might not get too wet or blown away.

"There!" Yang bolted as Jaune followed her as they were under the arch of a building. At least they weren't being belted by the cold rain.

"Stupid weather," Yang tried to rub her arms but winced from her robotic arm coming into contact with her skin. The stupid metal was freezing so she tried to warm up with her one arm. She noticed that she was starting to shiver a little which wasn't a good sign.

"We need to get warm," Jaune noticed, as he wasn't doing much better given the metal armor he wore. Sure, his hoodie might have helped a bit but said hoodie was soaked. "Where are we anyway?"

They both looked to see that they were at the entrance of a hotel of some sort.

"Huh…think we can get a couple of rooms with room service and laundry service?" Yang only half joked. Personally, both of those ideas sounded perfect for the moment.

As they got in, they could already see wet guests were making their ways to the stairs for the upper rooms as well as a few at the front desk. Jaune and Yang moved off to the side hoping to at least not block the entrance as well as not to drip too much water on the main carpet. Jaune checked with his scroll and tried to find the local weather connecting to the city.

He groaned with what he found.

"What?" Yang asked as he showed her his scroll and she groaned with him. The weather was supposed to rain for the next several hours. Even if they could stay in the lobby (which she doubted) it would still be extremely late at night before they could walk back to the house.

"Maybe we should see if we can get a room," Jaune sighed not happy with it. At least the place looked decent it was only three stories tall so it might not be too expensive at the very least. Maybe they could pull their money together for two separate rooms for the night. They hadn't spent too much in fact looking down he saw that the plastic bag had kept a good amount of the rain out so at least that long sleeve shirt he got should be dry.

"Can I help you?" a voice called out to them.

They both looked up to see the last of the costumers had moved off as the person working the front desk saw them. Yang and Jaune shared a look as Yang shrugged and moved forward apparently in the same mind as Jaune. She also really needed a place to dry off as she was starting to get very cold now.

"Yeah, you got a couple of rooms left?" Yang asked.

The man at the desk looked at the small computer screen and shook his head. "I'm sorry but we only got one room left."

"What?" Yang blinked.

"With all the students returning but the school not open and all the Faunus that came to the city to help who have stayed a lot of the hotels have been booked up lately. With the storm outside we've been getting a few more last minute customers as well as the rest of the rooms are booked." He explained.

"You telling me that someone is going to travel through that for a room here?" Yang pointed her thumb out to the front door behind her.

"It's policy to hold the rooms until cancellation or they don't show up." He stood hide ground on that.

"I'm not sure what much choice we have," Jaune told her. "We either go back out there or, well maybe we can wait for a room to get cancelled?"

Yang mulled it over but damn it they were wet, cold and just miserable. She sighed as she thought about their choices but she really wanted a nice place to sit down, have a shower and get under some warm blankets.

"You guys got room service and a working laundry?" Yang sighed.

"Yes we do although we're backed up on the laundry service it might not be ready until morning." He apologized. "We have a lot of guest requesting that more than usual and some of our workers didn't make it in for obvious reasons."

Yang looked at Jaune defeated. "Well it either this or nothing."

"A-are you sure you want to share a room?"

"Hey I trust you plus you shared one with two girls right?" Yang told him with a shrug. If it had been, anyone else she might have been more concerned but Jaune was a safe guy to be around. Plus he had roomed with Pyrrha and Nora and neither girl had any complaints about Jaune or Ren. So she turned to the counter and saw about how much it would be for a single night.

After paying for the night, which they decided to split on just to be fair, they made their way up the stairs as Yang pulled out her scroll. She was giving Ruby a text on what was happening, well mostly. She wasn't saying about the shared room in case she told Qrow and the last thing she needed was a pissed off black bird trying to fly through their window.

It was still really strange to know her mom and uncle could do that even after seeing it.

"What are you doing?" Jaune asked as they made their way to the second floor.

"Giving Ruby a text on why we won't be back." She explained.

"Good idea," Jaune stated as he found their room. He opened it up as the two walked in, there wasn't much just a simple bathroom to the right as the small hallway opened up. They kicked off their footwear by the door as they moved on deeper inside.

They didn't have to pay as much as they thought since it was a smaller room a simple little fridge was there, a desk with a small TV there. However, there was one thing that both of them suddenly realized when they took in the rest of the room.

There was only one bed.

While the two blondes were trying to figure out what to do next, their friends were all stuck inside of the new Unity group headquarters. They had finally managed to get everything in as some people had left before the rain really started to get bad. Some had vehicles or friends some to pick them up which left most of the people there Blake, her family and friends.

She was currently sitting on a desk with her head in her hands just staring out of the window. She didn't really like the rain and it wasn't because she was a cat Faunus, that was a stereo type anyway. It was just she didn't like being out in the rain and it was really coming down.

"Well Ruby just texted me," Weiss came to her side. "Turns out Yang and Jaune got caught in this storm and are laying low in a hotel until it stops."

"Hope it wasn't too bad for them." Blake sighed.

"Ren and Nora managed to get back but Qrow apparently got soaked." Weiss continued on as she scrolled down. Blake noticed something, Weiss looked slightly annoyed, not the usual kind but a more personal one.

"Are you okay?" Blake asked.

"Fine," the icy tone told Blake that her friend was far from fine.

"Hey ladies," Sun walked up to them. "We were going to see about ordering something in if we can, you guys interested in trying out some of the local food?"

Sun suddenly felt the atmosphere and glanced at the two of them from one to the other. "Uh…everything okay?"

"I'm not sure," Blake looked to Weiss.

The former heiress saw the look and rolled her eyes with a frown she pointed to a corner. They both looked to see Neptune there talking with two Faunus girls. He was learning up against the wall with an arm as both girls looked very interesting in whatever it was he was saying to them.

"Ah." Both Blake and Sun said at the same time.

"Whatever," Weiss frowned she really should have seen it coming.

"Yeah the thing with Neptune is that he is a good guy," Sun trailed off. "I mean he's loyal to the team and would do anything for a friend but when it comes to girls…"

"We've noticed," Blake narrowed her eyes and shook her head.

Weiss was just looking out the window and noticed Blake looking at her with concern. She sighed as she waved it off. "Okay look, yes he's good looking and he can be very charming but beyond that I don't think we had much of anything going."

Her time back in Atlas being surrounded by people who wore empathy and concern like someone wore a mask, to hide who they really were and what they felt made her see things differently. Beacon had changed her in more ways than she had known until got back. She had been used to the false words, the barbs hidden behind compliments, the horrible gossip, the backstabbing.

She had grown up in that kind of environment and being free of it she had found that she couldn't really go back to that kind of world. She didn't like that world, she much preferred the one she was in now. She saw the world differently and now, looking back on her time with Neptune while she didn't regret it. She did look at it with a different view.

It wasn't as if they were dating, they had literally one date at the dance and that was it. They hadn't even really gotten to know each other. She would have liked to get to know him but he didn't seem to want to settle with anyone now. Therefore, while she was disappointed she could live with it.

"Still I should talk to him about doing this all the time," Sun said looking at his friend, sure at first it was fun but he was starting to worry that one day his friend would either end up hurting someone by accident or he would miss out on that one special girl that comes around.

Blake gave a small smile at Sun at his willingness to help out in his own way.

"Blake," Her mother called to her. "Can you help me with something?"

"Sure mom," Blake hopped off her seat and went over to her mother. "What do you need?"

"Just a little help with the storage room," Kali said as she lead them to the back, the storage room wasn't very big and was nearly filled with boxes that weren't even unpacked yet. They still had no idea what was in some of them, as they hadn't gone through everything yet.

"So what do you need help with?" Blake asked looking at the boxes but then noticed that her mother had shut the door and sat down on one of the sturdier boxes. "Mom?"

"Sit down dear," Kali asked and Blake gently sat down across from her. "Sorry but I felt it was time for a mother and daughter talk."

"What's this about?"

"I'm actually a little worried about you," Kali said honestly.

"I know I've been a little odd with everyone," Blake said rubbing one of her arms and slightly looking away. "I'm just trying to fit back in with the team and with Yang."

The amount of guilt she felt to just leaving her teammates still ate at her today, she hated herself for running away like she had.

"Yes there is that but I've also wanted to talk to you about you and Sun."

"Mom!" Blake's ears flattened.

"I'm serious here Blake," Kali said sternly taking her daughter by surprise. "Anyone can see that the boy cares for you a great deal. He followed you across the world because you were in pain after all."

Blake wanted to say something but she really couldn't, what her mother didn't know was that this was the second time Sun had done something like this for her. The first time when she ran away after that horrible argument with Weiss where he had kept her company when she had been alone and confused.

Then again when he had shown up on the ship, of course he thought she was going on some insane mission against the White Fang instead of just running away to home.

"I've noticed this bad habit you have of running away from your problems Blake," her mother said in a soothing tone. "It's got me really worried about you."

Blake winced at the statement as she did run away when things got too much for her. She ran from her parents to join the White Fang, she ran from the Fang when Adam went too far, she ran from her friends after that argument and she ran away again when Beacon fell. She never felt more of a coward than she had in that moment.

"I can tell something happened to you," Kali reached across from her and lightly gripped her daughter's hand with her own. "You put this wall around your heart."

"You can't know what it's like," Blake shook her head feeling the sting in her eyes but refusing to let any tears happen.

"Oh I don't huh?" Kali smirked knowingly, children always felt that parents never understood forgetting that they themselves had grown up at one point just like them. "You think your father was the first person I loved?"

Blake looked up and then at the ground, "Well…no but I never really thought about it."

"Well let me tell you, I was madly in love with a man before I met your father. That is until the day I came to our apartment and found him in bed with my now _ex_ -best friend." Kali said in a cold tone that old wound had mostly healed but she never forgave either of them. To this day, she had no idea whatever happened to them but personally, she didn't care. They were in the past and that kind of betrayal wasn't something you could just get over easily.

Blake looked up horrified at seeing the slightly pained look on her mother's eyes. "Mom…"

Kali smiled at her then, "Well it all worked out. You see I ran away in tears after that, I have no idea where I was going or for how long. All I knew if that in my most painful moment I ran into someone that would change my life."

"Dad?" Blake asked.

Kali nodded. "I ran right into him and fell." She shook her head in amusement. "He looked down at him and offered his hand and asked me if I was okay."

"And then you got together I suppose." Blake sighed.

"Oh no." Kali waved her hand making Blake surprised. "He helped me out but I was in no shape to start anything like that. He did become a friend for me that day, he helped me in my darkness moment and when I finally started to feel like dating again I actually dating this other man."

Blake blinked in surprised.

"The real world doesn't work like your books you think I don't know about that you read." Kali winked as Blake blushed. "Anyway it didn't work out but then I thought about your father, I started thinking more and more about him but I was scared to do anything."

"He was my friend and I didn't want to ruin anything but here was a good man with a passion in him to change the world for the better. Someone who was there for me and the more I thought about it the more it tore me apart. Until I finally decided that I would face this head on, if I ended up hurt again then so be it but I would not let my fears get the better of me."

"Well I took a chance and you see where it led me," Kali smiled as she leaned in and caressed Blake's cheek. "When I look at you I see myself when I was hurt, pushing things away that would give me a chance at real joy and I worry."

Blake tried to say something but she wasn't sure what she could say after all that. She had never known any of this about her mother or how her parents actually got together until now.

"Blake if Sun makes you happy then you need to get the chance, yes you might get hurt but trust me it can be worth it if it works out."

"What if it doesn't," Blake looked away. "What if one of us chances or what if I don't know what I feel?"

"Then you should find out," Kali told her. "If you feel that he's not the one for you then you should tell him as I think he deserves to know if he has you as a friend or as something more."

Blake looked at her feet as she had no idea how she felt, she felt so confused but then she felt her mother's embrace as she was pulled into a hug.

"No matter what you have family and friends Blake," Her mother said soothingly. "We'll always be here and you'll never be alone again. You just need to start taking this wall down and you'll be able to enjoy so much out of life."

"M-mom," Blake said in a shaky voice as she hugged her mother tightly. She felt the warm embrace of her mother and for a moment, she felt like she was a little girl again being protected from all the dark things in the world by her mother's love.

 **TBC…**


	13. Chapter 13: Comfort

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 13: Comfort**

Jaune had no idea how things had gotten like this, here he was showing in a hotel room with Yang in the other room. This is the kind of thing he never expected of his life to be in a very awkward position with the sister of one of his best friends, not to mention said sister was also very beautiful didn't help the matter either.

Feeling the hot water getting all the cold rainwater off his body he tried a few calming breaths. They were fine, he was just stuck here because of the rain with a friend that's all. He could do this he shared a room with two girls back in Beacon after all. Although to be fair that had taken some getting used to as that first awkward night the team had come up with simple rules for everyone to get along with.

First was that if you changed you used the bathroom, it would prevent people walking in on you that way. Next was to keep any of the more personal clothing articles in your drawer and not laid out for the world to see. Thankfully, none of them had been slobs in that regard, the next was that the girls did their own laundry as well as the boys.

Simple rules but it did allow team JNPR to get along and after the first week things felt a bit normal for them all.

His mind coming back to reality he nodded his head, this was no different from that. They were stuck here and they would just deal with it, hell in the future they might look back on this and just laugh it off after all.

"Hey Jaune." Yang's voice called out.

"Yes!" He jumped as his voice cracked a bit as he made a face in embarrassment.

"They came to pick up our clothing and I was about to call room service for dinner, you okay with what I pick?"

"Y-yeah that's good." He told her hearing some sounds through the doorway most likely her giving whoever it was at the front door their wet clothing.

Jaune groaned softly to himself, why did he have to be so awkward all the time? He found the complimentary soap and shampoo and decided to clean up. Picking up the soap bar he paused realizing that Yang had just used this not too long ago. He was suddenly thinking of how this bar had been pressed all over her naked body while in the shower and he was going to use it on his own.

He quickly put it back with a blush and he reached through the curtain for another bar that was still wrapped up in that white material that all hotel soaps seemed to come in as he tried to pry it off quickly.

In the other room, Yang had gone through the menu in the room and called down for a meal for two. She was glad when she checked the bathroom that there were at least robes for them to wear while they dried out. She currently was sitting on the edge of the bed in said robe, the only thing under it was her underwear. At least that hadn't been too badly wet and both she and Jaune agreed that slightly wet underwear was better than nothing.

She was currently doing her best to dry her hair with a towel when the idea of Jaune strutting out naked came to mind. Her cheeks heated up a bit remembering the feeling of his new growing muscular form and for a split second wondered how he looked.

Yang laughed it off as she shook her head this was bad enough without her imagination acting up on her. She could only imagine what her dad would think of her in this situation, he would be livid that one of his 'little girls' were in a hotel room nearly naked with a boy in the shower. It did give her a good opportunity to have some fun with Jaune after all as the thought made her grin.

She hears the shower stop and Yang laid on the bed on her side making her slightly wet hair positioned just right. She even pulled open the robe just enough for a little cleavage to show as she waited for Jaune to step out. She didn't have to wait long as the room had two robes he came out in the other and when he saw her the poor boy froze like he was an animal caught in the headlights.

Jaune wasn't sure what was going on all he knew was that there was Yang on the bed looking very sexy and looking at him with a heated look. He suddenly felt his throat go very dry, as his body seemed locked in place looking at her. She looked amazing, even with her hair slightly wet it only helped and seriously what was it with girls getting wet that made them seem more attractive?

"So Lover," Yang said in a sensual tone that made the poor boy blush. "Is this the part where we fuck?"

That was it, he snapped at that point.

"Yang!" Jaune went full on blush as his head was beat red as Yang just ended up laughing her ass off. She rolled onto her back holding her stomach as she roared with laughter.

"That's not funny!" Jaune cried out.

"It-it is-ha ha ha-from my-ha ha ha-my position!" Yang could barely get the words out his face and reaction had been just perfect. "What? You-you never-ha ha-wanted to-ha ha-bang a Yang?"

Frowning at her Jaune's shoulders slumped, this was worse than when his sisters would tease him. Then an idea came into his head, there were ways he got back at his sisters and seeing her so defenseless he acted without thinking. He quickly moved to the bed and grabbed one of her feet.

"The hell?" Yang stopped laughing feeling Jaune sit down and take a foot. Before she could ask him what the hell he was doing she found out. His fingers quickly went to work on her feet as he started to tickle them making her laugh even more.

"So you like laughing huh?" Jaune grinned.

"No! Stop-god damn it Jaune!" Yang said between laughs as she tried to fight her way free but Jaune was prepared. As she tried to move up on the bed, he moved with her, she tried to kick him but her free leg was on the other side and made it a bit more difficult. However, Yang knew more about close fighting than he did, she pulled her foot back and when he went to get it, she grabbed him with one hand and pulled him face down onto the bed next to her.

Jaune rolled onto his back only for Yang to bounce on him holding him down. He looked up and was thankful that her eyes weren't red but she did have a determined look on her face.

"N-now Yang you did start it," He tried to defend himself.

"Oh and I plan to finish it," Yang grinned at him wondering what to do but then she noticed something. Jaune's eyes looked down briefly, before his face went red and he quickly looked away.

"Uh…Yang," He hesitantly said making her pause.

"What?"

"You're robe," He said lamely.

She looked down and saw that her little move had caused her robe to open up giving him a full view of her chest with only her orange bra to hide her breasts from him. She instantly felt her face heat up in embarrassment as she sat up quickly to pull the robe close. She sat back a bit too quickly as she landed on his crotch making the poor boy cry out slightly and wince.

"Oh god sorry Jaune I…uh…Jaune," she said slowly as she felt something under her. "Do…do you have something in your robe?"

Jaune placed a hand on his face and shook his head not wanting her to see his embarrassment. He felt like he wanted to find a rock somewhere, crawl under it, and then just die right there. Yang was sitting on him in a way that was pressing up against his slight erection. In his defense her sexy pose and then seeing her exposed hadn't helped he was just glad it wasn't a raging boner at the moment. It was still supremely embarrassing however.

Yang's face flushed as she quickly got off him and both young adult sat up looking away from each other. There was a few moments of silence between them neither of them knowing what to say.

"Sorry," They both said at the same time as they looked at each other and in that moment when they stared into each other's eyes the situation for some reason started to become slightly funny as both let out a small laugh.

"I didn't hurt you did I?" Yang knew that hitting a guy in the crotch was very painful for them.

"I'm okay, sorry that, well that happened…" Jaune felt a bit of shame at the whole thing.

Yang shrugged it off, "Hey thinking about it I get it, hell I would be offended if you didn't get excited with me flashing you…thanks for looking away." She said the last bit softly.

"No problem I didn't want you to think I'm some kind of pervert or something." He replied.

That made her smile a bit as she lightly tugged on a strand of her long hair. Most people she knew wouldn't have said anything and had taken a good look at her but Jaune at least had a healthy respect for women. Maybe it was from growing up with so many sisters? She had no idea but she was thankful it had been him and didn't try to take advantage of the situation. Then again, if he had she would have pummeled him for it anyway.

"How about we keep this just to us then," Yang offered.

"Deal," he quickly responded.

A knocking at the door made them jump as the heard room service being announced.

"Save by diner," Jaune sighed getting up to get it.

By the time they had finished their meal and had set it out for the staff to pick it up outside they spent the last few hours seeing what they could find on the TV. They were on the bed as Yang had the controller, they skipped the news as it was more of the same. Nothing interesting was going on and they ended up just watching some old and bad movie from a few years ago.

They just ended up commenting throughout the entire thing, why that was stupid, why the hero was doing this, how wrong the fight scenes were. Despite this, they ended up having a good time just hanging out and picking apart a bad film together. They forgot their situation and it was more as if they were just hanging out like normal.

By the time the file ended both were feeling tired as they figured it was time to start turning in for the night. Jaune knew this was coming the moment he saw that there was only a single bed in the room. He had resolved to be the gentleman here. He got off the bed and took one of the pillows.

"Well we should turn in," Jaune told her. "I can take the floor so you can have the bed."

"Oh come on Jaune that isn't fair to you," Yang had a feeling he would try and pull a chivalry move like this, it was just something he would do.

"Hey I've slept on worse on the way here," Jaune tried to shrug it off to her. That said, at least when they had been sleeping on the ground they had had bedrolls with them. It had helped when they had to camp out for the night after all.

Yang pursed her lips, she had felt how thin the carpet was with her bare feet and she didn't want to spend the night on it. She also didn't want Jaune who had been nothing but good to her sleeping on it either. She thought about it as Jaune threw the pillow on the ground to make his little spot and she decided to make a choice.

"We can share the bed." She stated freezing him.

"W-what?" Jaune wasn't sure if he heard her right. For a moment, he was wondering if she was teasing him again but she stood up and looked at him very seriously.

"Jaune if this were any other guy I wouldn't offer this," she took a breath. "But I trust you. You've been nothing but a good friend to me, my team and especially my little sister. I know you'd be a gentleman about it and wouldn't try anything."

"Of course not but, well, we'd be…" Jaune was a bit embarrassed as the robe was slightly damp from all the remaining water he hadn't dried off. It wasn't too bad but it would make sleeping there uncomfortable.

Yang had similar thoughts but closed her eyes as she balled her fist. She undid her robe and slid into the bed as Jaune froze at the sight.

"What are you doing?!" Jaune cried out not sure where to look.

"Look we can be adults about this okay?" Yang looked away trying to hide the blush on her own cheeks. "You'd see the same amount of skin on me if I was wearing a bikini."

"You're not wearing a bikini." Jaune said keeping his eyes on the ground.

"I know," Yang snapped at him holding the cover tightly. "But you would still see the same amount of skin so just think of me in a bikini and not my underwear. It's the same for you too you know, I bet I would see the same if you were wearing swim trunks."

While he couldn't fault her at that, his boxers were the same shape as what he wore to the beach. He couldn't help but look slightly at her, she looked nervous, he had never seen her nervous before. This had to be really hard for her to do and he couldn't blame her, it was hard for him too.

It would be a bit more comfortable sleeping without the slightly damp robes clinging to them the entire night not to mention the hotel was already warm they might overheat in them with the covers as well. Sure, they could sleep above the covers but it wasn't like there was any way to make sure the robes didn't fall off either during the night.

"Jaune," Yang managed to look at him. "We're doing this, I'm not making a friend sleep on this floor for the night. So what do you say? Can we be adults about this?"

"Adults huh?" He sighed seeing the stubborn side of Yang coming out. Once she set her mind on something, it was very hard to change it he had learned. "O-okay."

He let it fall and since Yang had been looking at him, she got the full view. She felt her face warm up even more at the sight of him. He looked good, he certainly looked better now after all the training he had done in the past year. Sure, he didn't have say a six-pack like Sun but she could see that he was on the way to it not to mention the rest of him was starting to look somewhat good as well.

Then she noticed the boxers and she couldn't help but snicker.

"W-what?" Jaune looked down.

"Really? They make Pumpkin Pete boxers in your size?" Yang giggled.

"I like it okay," Jaune defended himself quickly getting in under the covers.

"Maybe I should start calling you Bunny Boy," Yang teased him.

Jaune just groaned and turned away from her. Yang did the same turning away as she shifted, she wished she could take her bra off at least. She hated sleeping in a bra it always pinched her in places that kept her from falling asleep.

He felt her shifting and for a moment, he was wondering if she was just trying to find a comfortable spot. Then it hit him, growing up with seven sisters you learn a few things about girls, some things he never wanted to know for instance. This time he had an idea of what might be bothering her but he couldn't do anything about it.

Or could he?

"Yang hold on a second." He got up and went to the plastic bags with the stuff they bought.

"What are you doing?"

"Well from what my sisters talked they don't like sleeping in bras." He pulled out the shirt he had bought it was a long sleeve white shirt and since he was bigger than Yang it would most likely fit her. "You can wear this if it makes you more comfortable."

Yang's eyes widened as she had forgotten about that. "You sure you don't want it?"

"I think it would do you more good than me," He told her as he handed her the shirt.

She smiled down at it, as this would certainly be helpful. "Thanks."

Yang sat on the edge of the bed and then looked right at him lifting an eyebrow.

"Oh! Right!" He quickly turned around.

She was about to warn him about looking but she figured he knew well enough by now. She unclasped her bra feeing her 'girls' and sighed in relief. She cast a quick look over her should as Jaune stood still looking away. She grinned, as she made sure to let go of the bra to hit the ground as loud as it possibly could, she saw him flinch a bit, as he obviously knew what had just hit the carpet.

She smiled as she pulled on the shirt, it was a size too big for her in fact the hem nearly went over her panties. She slipped back into the bed glad that he had been so thoughtful to her.

"I'm decent."

"Hope it helps he slipped in with her as both young adults looked away from each other facing back to back. Yang unhooked her arm and placed it on the small table next to the bed.

"Was that your arm?" Jaune asked hearing it.

"Yeah I don't like to sleep with it on, cold metal and all that." She explained to him. "Goodnight Jaune."

"Goodnight Yang."

The only sound left in the room was the slight drops of the rain outside, the slight hum of the heater as both of them tried to get a decent night's sleep.

 **-Later-**

Yang had no idea where she was, the place looked to be the streets of Mistral but they were empty. Looking up she saw a blood red moon out, the so-called Hunter's Moon. She continued walking down the streets, as there was an eerie quietness to it all. She looked from left to right feeling as if something was watching her.

She felt her nerves acting up as she didn't hear any sounds, she wanted to ask if anyone was there but the sense of dread she was feeling was only increasing. If something was out there then just shouting wasn't a good idea. She felt her heart racing as she finally heard something moving in the dark shadows.

Yang couldn't really see as the shadows seemed darker and thicker than they should be, like blankets of pure darkness where by the light of the moon she couldn't see anything inside of them. Then she heard it the sounds of squeaking metal. She found a path to what looked like a park with a lone child sitting on a swing set. She didn't like the idea of a child alone out here and quickly made her way to the girl.

"Hey there are you okay?" Yang sat down and noticed the little girl was blonde like herself with her hair in pigtails.

"She broke." The child said.

"Who broke?" Yang asked as the child kept looking down and Yang noticed that the girl was holding a small doll.

The child lifted it up and Yang's face froze as she saw it was a small stuffed doll of herself but with an arm ripped off and the stuffing coming out.

"You broke." The girl said as she looked up and Yang could see it was her, her as a child.

Yang cried out falling back but the girl wasn't there in fact the park wasn't there anymore and all around her was darkness. She got onto her feet as she quickly looked around for anything the fear rising in her heart. Then came the growling, the unmistakable growling that came from Grimm. She could see glowing red eyes in the darkness as vague sense of shapes were in there.

"Come on I'm not afraid!" Yang shouted as she readied her weapons but something was wrong. Looking down she saw that her gauntlet was gone but worse, so was her robotic arm.

"Yes you are." A cold male voice said softly as it sent a sliver of ice into Yang's heart.

She turned to see Adam there walking towards her slowly.

"No…stay back, get away from me!" Yang tried to backpedal as something hit her from behind. She grunted as she hit the ground as she tried to look at whatever it was on her. She then heard the growling, felt the large paw on her back and the breath behind her head of a Grimm.

"I think it's time to make the left match the right," Adam slowly pulled out his sword going over to her left arm.

"No, don't do this!" Yang tried to struggle but she couldn't he was going to take her other arm. He was going to do it and she couldn't stop him. She cried out and struggled but it was useless, she was useless. She cried out once more as the blade was raised up to strike.

"YANG WAKE UP!" A voice shouted.

Yang awoke with a start feeling someone shaking her. She pushed away whatever was next to her as she cried out. Her head quickly looked around as she was confused what was going on. She saw that was in a room, a small room with a single desk lamp on, she was in a bed with an oversized shirt on and then she noticed Jaune with a very worried look on his face. It slowly came back to her as she realized where they were and that she had another nightmare.

It couldn't have come at the worst time as she felt the hot tears still on her face, she quickly turned away not wanting anyone to see her in this state. She didn't want anyone to see her like this, she felt weak and out of control and she hated it, she hated anyone saw this side of her.

"Yang?" Jaune asked full of concern for the girl.

"I'm fine," She snapped wiping her face with her only hand as she saw her robotic one where she had left it.

"Yang, you were thrashing around and crying out," Jaune told her, he had been woken up by her obvious nightmare and whatever it had been had to have been horrible. He had never seen her like this, all shaken up and vulnerable like this. He was getting extremely worried about her as he saw her shaking trying to wrap her one arm around herself.

Jaune was trying to think of something anything to say or do, he thought back to a time when one of his sisters had been having nightmares from sneaking out to watch a scary movie. She had been waking up for two days straight. He had gone to her room on the third night as it was next to his, to check in on her. He ended up staying with her just holding her until she fell asleep that night.

Seeing Yang like this made him remember that time and so he moved closer to pull her into a huge from behind.

"What the hell Jaune," Yang said angrily.

"It's the only thing I know how to do," he told her gently. "It's okay to be scared Yang, it's okay to be hurt."

"You don't understand," She felt the words choke in her throat.

Jaune was silent a moment before speaking again. "Remember when I told you I still get nightmares of that night? The worst one is one that keeps happening."

He took a breath, as he had never told anyone this nightmare before. "I'm back there in that moment when Pyrrha pushes me into the locker only this time the locker doesn't leave. I'm stuck there pounding on the door begging for her not to go, to let me out, to…to not leave."

Jaune held her a bit together and the young woman wasn't sure if he was doing it for her benefit or his own as she just sat there and listened to him.

"I keep screaming, begging and no matter how hard I hit the door I can't do anything. Then I hear the fighting, I hear…I hear Pyrrha screaming in pain and Cinder…she's laughing. I hear Pyrrha cry out in pain and all I can do is just stand there and do nothing. I can't do anything because I'm weak, because I can't help her, because I'd just get in the way."

Yang felt something warm and wet hit her shoulders, as she knew it was his tears, she was crying too now. Both from her own torment and from hearing the agony in his voice, she remembered that talk they had awhile back. She remembered how they both felt broken but in this moment she hadn't realized just how broken the two of them were.

She also didn't like to hear how he was debasing himself, she knew he had confidence problems but he should still be proud of what he had done in such a short time. She quickly turned around and buried herself into his chest. She didn't want him to see her face as she was still a mess but she also felt she wasn't the only one that needed someone.

"You're not weak, you're not in the way," She sniffed as he just held her in his arms.

Jaune couldn't form any more words at the moment as he wasn't sure he could get them past the lump in his throat without breaking down. He just held onto her feeling her own tears on his bare chest as he rested his chin on her shoulder. Both of them just wanted to help the other, both of them were hurting, and both of them just didn't want to be alone tonight.

By the time Yang woke up a second time she blinked at the light from the sun hitting her face. She moaned a bit as she noticed the warm wrapped around her and it wasn't the blanket. She blinked a few more times as her mind slowly started to gear back up as she noticed the warm flesh of a chest against her cheek.

Her mind remembered that she was in bed with Jaune and what had happened last night, she didn't remember all of her nightmare it had mostly faded back into the shadows of her mind from where it had come from. She felt his arms wrapped up protectively around her as she found herself snuggling back into him. She felt safe and warm, it was a familiar sensation that she was trying to remember.

Then it came to her, the last time she felt like this was after Summer had died. She had cried so much during that first month but each time her father would come into her room and he would just hold her. He wouldn't say anything but he held her, Yang knew now that he had to have been hurting so much in that time but he had still held his daughter putting his own pain aside for her own.

This was that same feeling, that same warmth and protection.

Yang closed her eyes and just enjoyed the moment she felt her leg over one of his as her own arm was wrapped around his waist. She started to slowly drag her hand over his body feeling the muscles starting to take form on his soft skin as she looked up at him. He looked peaceful in this moment as she couldn't help but smirk as she gently pushed some of his hair out of his face.

He was actually kind of cute when asleep like this.

Yang could only stare at him as she remembered last night, how he had comforted her, how he had opened up and how she had returned that comfort with her own so she couldn't help but study Jaune's face. He looked so young with that baby face look of his and when he wore his armor, he looked like some kind of picture perfect example of those knights or princes in the fairy tales that she used to read to Ruby when their dad couldn't do it.

Yang really started to think about Jaune, he had his flaws that was true but he made up for it in so many other ways. She never gave up, he kept pushing himself to keep getting better and stronger, he was a true friend to those around him. He would always be there for someone that needed him even at the cost of his own life he would give it gladly if it meant he could save someone. Yang hadn't noticed that as she thought about it she was slowly inching closer and closer to his face.

She looked at his lips and wondered what it would be like to kiss him.

' _Wait what!?'_ she suddenly thought as she froze in place. _'Where the hell did THAT come from?'_

She noticed her heart beating quickly now as she started to panic a little, she slipped out of the bed trying so hard to make sure Jaune didn't wake up. When she finally managed to do it she made for the bathroom as quickly and as quietly as possible before gently closing the door. She leaned over the sink as she then had to straighten up to use her one arm to run some water and then splash her face.

Looking at herself in the mirror she had to grimace, she looked a mess after last night. Putting her looks aside, she stared at the mirror image of herself.

"What are you doing girl?" She quietly asked herself. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Although there was no answer from the image in the mirror, she knew where this was going. She had been about to kiss Jaune in his sleep, she had been very close to doing it and the thing was as she thought about it.

She wouldn't have regretted it if she had done it.

The realization hit her like a truck, she had no idea when it had happened she had no idea _how_ it had happened but as she started at the wide-eyed look in the mirror, she could feel the answer. She had fallen for him, she had somehow fallen for Jaune Arc of all people. She had no idea if this was just a crush or something more, she had no idea how deep her feelings were but she was sure of one thing.

She had feelings for him.

Leaning forward to stare at the mirror she was silent a moment. "I wonder if this is what happened to you Pyrrha?" She gave a small laugh at it, she had wondered how Jaune of all people had captured the heart of the Invincible Girl who could have had any boy at all but had picked simple Jaune.

Only now Yang knew that Jaune wasn't 'simple' and as she stood there she took a calming breath.

"So…this is a thing," Yang said to her mirror counterpart. She was always one to go at her problems and issues head on after all. There was no beating around the bush with her, she wasn't someone to go into denial or anything about this. She knew what was going on and she needed to figure out what her next step would be.

"So…what are you going to do about it?" She asked herself.

 **TBC…**


	14. Chapter 14: What to Do

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 14: What to Do**

The first thing that Jaune heard was the shower when he woke up, he blinked away the sleep from his eyes as he looked around to see an empty bed. He figured that Yang was in the shower as he got up and stretched out. He sat on the bed deep in thought last night hadn't been what he expected to happen. He had never seen Yang so hurt and vulnerable like that, he always saw her as a panicle of confidence and strength.

Seeing her like that made him realize that everyone, even those he felt were stronger than him, could have moments like that. Personally, he didn't like seeing Yang in that state, or anyone really. But to him Yang should always be the one that was that spark of energy, the one with the lame jokes, the one that put so much passion into everything she did.

He heard a knocking at the door as Jaune put on the robe. He had no idea how early it was but a quick look told him they had slept in more than usual. He figured after last night they both needed some extra time to rest. He opened the door to find that the laundry service was dropping off clothing at the moment.

Jaune thanked them as he got two white bags, taking a quick look he saw that it was in fact their clothing just to make sure. The water in the shower turned off as he went to knock on the door.

"Yes?"

"Hey they just dropped off our clothes."

"Oh perfect!" Yang was so happy to hear that she didn't want to spend more time in just her underwear with a robe on. "Can you leave it by the door?"

"Sure thing." He did so and went to the bed. He wasn't sure what else to do so he turned on the TV and flipped the channels around. He was never much a fan of early morning programs, nothing every really seemed good to him. Jaune heard the door open and then close as he figured Yang had gotten her clothing.

He just placed it on the local news not really caring about what was on when Yang's voice called out to him.

"Hey Jaune, is my bra still out there?"

Jaune froze as he remembered that she had taken it off during the night. Slowly he looked over the side of the bed she had been on and there on the ground was an orange bra just sitting there.

"Uh…yeah."

There was a pause as Yang considered what to do as she suddenly had a very wicked idea. "Can you hand it to me?"

"W-what!?"

"Oh come on Jaune you're telling me that with all those sisters you never saw a bra before?" Yang told him through the door. "Oh and grab my arm will you?"

While that was true, those were his sisters. He took a sigh as he reached down and picked it up, although he tried not to look too closely he couldn't help but notice that it was larger than any of his sisters. He focused on getting her robotic arm as he quickly went to the bathroom door. With a blushing face he knocked on the door which only got worse when she opened it.

"Oh thanks for giving a girl a hand." She grinned at him.

"Uh…yeah sure." He quickly looked away as she reached to grab the items, mainly because the shirt she had been wearing was resting on her slightly wet skin and it was clinging to her body. He could especially see the two nubs of her nipples poking out and he suddenly felt very warm at the moment.

Yang looked down. "Oh sorry about the shirt, I'll dry it for you when we get back."

"I-it's alright," he told her. "Just glad you got some use out of it."

"Thanks Jaune." She closed the door as he went to the bed and groaned.

"I swear she's going to kill me," He groaned trying to stop picturing her in what was basically a wet shirt.

Yang knew it was a bit of a dirty move but she figured the best way to get his attention was to at least start by gaining it the best way she knew how. She had forgotten her arm and bra so when she got her clothing and realized the missing items she had a small plan on having Jaune get them for her. From the looks on his face, he was trying very hard to respect her, which she did like about him, but she was wondering if it was only respect or if he actually did find her attractive.

Sure, he once said she was beautiful but you can say that about something and not be attracted to it. She needed a little more information and as she dressed, another idea came to mind.

Eventually Yang and Jaune came out into the sunlight of the early morning looking around. They had turned in their key, showered, dressed and picked up their bags as they were now on their way back to the house. They found that the streets were still wet from all the rain last night and the air was filled with the after scent of rainwater.

"Hey you want to get breakfast at someplace?" Yang suddenly asked him. "I figure everyone might have already eaten so we might as well eat on the way there."

He thought about it but his stomach told him that it was a good idea.

Yang laughed at it but stopped when her own stomach rumbled.

"Yep I think that's a good idea," He smirked at her as she shot him a look.

They walked the streets making their way back to the house looking for some place decent. They found a restaurant that served breakfast and decided this was the place. It was a bit of an old school design, it felt like the place had been in business for quite some time. Which most likely meant good food if they stayed in business this long. The place only had a few customers as it was still a bit early for the morning rush and they were easily shown to a booth.

Yang sat across from him as they put their bags under the wooden table. They looked through the menu and ordered.

As they waited for their order, Yang was looking off to the side with a finger tracing lines across the surface of the table. There was a lot on her mind after all as she cast a look to Jaune, he had no idea what was going through her mind because if he did he was sure to be all nervous and flustered. She grinned at the thought, he did look cute when he was like that though. Like when he had given her the bra and had seen a peek with that slightly wet shirt.

That was one of the reasons she was giving him a shot, his eyes never lingered. It was a bit of a test she had, she would sometimes bend down or stretch back and pretend she was looking a different direction to see how long the guy would stare are her tits. If he went beyond a quick glance then that was it for them, she had figured out early on to tell those that just wanted her for her body early on in life. Or at least those that couldn't hide that fact from her, those types were a bit harder to root out.

So far, Jaune was passing those tests with flying colors. Even when they had been alone in a bed together in nothing but their underwear, he never once tried anything. She couldn't think of any of the guys she had been out with before Beacon that would have that kind of self-restraint.

He noticed her looking at him. "What?"

"Kind of an out of the blue question for you but I'm curious about something," She said turning her attention to him. "What kind of girls are you into?"

"W-what?" Jaune snapped back a little. "Why, uh, why do you want to know?"

She shrugged, "Just curious. I mean you went right after Weiss first time you met so I was thinking you were into slender girls but I also remember you hitting on Pyrrha as well that time."

Jaune groaned as he face palmed. "Thank you for reminding me of that."

Yang gave a small laugh, "You kind of had it coming when she speared you into the locker like that."

"Yeah I know," He sighed, he had since learned that what he had done wasn't actually 'confidence' but came off as more a creep. That was just one in the many things he wished he could take back or have a do over in his life.

"So?" Yang asked him again. "What are you interested in?"

Yang hoped she might get some insight into the kind of girl he liked, if he thought of her as a friend it would be easy to get some info out of him. After all, if he liked girls like with Weiss' figure she knew that she was a bit out of luck from the start but maybe it wasn't body type for him.

Jaune felt a bit embarrassed talking about it but she did seem interested and after last night, he felt a bit closer to her now. He took a breath thinking back on his old feelings for Weiss.

"I'm not sure about my type, I mean Weiss and Pyrrha both were pretty in their own ways. Weiss's pale skin, snow white hair was what caught my attention but it was more than that. She was so confident and sure of herself that day. She was showing everything I kind of wanted to have more of. I just looked at her and went 'wow that girl knows what she wants' and it kind of got me interested."

"So then what about Pyrrha?"

He got a bit quiet before talking. "Well the truth is I did find her physically attractive too. It was just that I was trying to be 'confident' that day. After that failure, I stopped and when she and I become partners I figured that was enough, you know? I never thought she had feelings for me, at least not until it was too late."

Yang was starting to regret bringing this up and decided to try and change the subject. "Okay I'm surprised you didn't try to go after someone else than Weiss though, she kept rejecting you after all."

Jaune scratched the back of his head, "Yeah well, I didn't have many options plus having one girl reject you is easier to take than multiple ones and I figured maybe I would find that one thing that would work. Looking back, I should have stopped as it was getting a bit much at times. I really should apologize for that time. I'm pretty sure I annoyed her to no end and might have come across as a little creepy at times."

"I'm pretty sure she's already over that," She said while internally frowning, there it was again. His lack of confidence, she was really starting to get worried about this side of him. "What do you mean not many options?"

"Well it's not easy for me to meet girls," He shrugged. "Never had a girlfriend sadly and I thought that since I was in Beacon maybe I can find one on top of being a student. I was never the popular kid if you know what I mean. The only other girls I knew were Nora, which was just a no. I think of her as more like a sister if you know what I mean."

Yang nodded and gestured for him to continue.

"Well Blake was…she's kind of hard to get a handle on. We didn't talk much back in school so I wasn't sure how to approach her."

Yang could relate, Blake was her partner and at times Yang had found it hard to get past Blake's emotional walls she had put up during that first semester. Things got better of course but man it was like pulling teeth sometimes during the early days of their team.

"Ruby was a flat no."

Yang raised an eyebrow.

Jaune saw this and started to panic. "I mean she was my first friend and I didn't want to try anything to ruin it. Plus she's more like a little sister to me and dating her would be…weird."

Yang nodded her head thankful for the explanation. "So why not me?"

"Oh uh…well…do you want the truth?"

"Of course."

"You were kind of…intimidating." Jaune admitted.

Yang blinked, "What?"

"I mean not physically, well okay sure physically, let's be honest even with all the training we're doing you'd still mop the floor with me most times." He admitted. "It's just that, well, you're…"

"Spit it out Jaune."

"You're really beautiful and all the flirting kept making me flustered. I didn't know how to handle a girl like you. You're also Ruby's big sister I didn't want anyone to think that I was using her to get closer to you. I've had guys try that with me with to get closer to some of my older sisters and I know it's not fun. Plus I didn't want Ruby to think that either as she looked to really needed a friend on that first day, not some guy hitting on her big sister."

"Oh." Yang sat back to think on that. She appreciated that he thought of her sister's feelings, that already put one more check in the box for him in her opinion. It also was nice to know that he found her physically attractive. Sure, she had a feeling he did she had seen plenty of guys checking her out in her life time to know she was hot. It was just nice to confirm that at least physically she was appealing to him, now she just need to work on the emotionally appealing part.

They spent the time there just talking, sometimes it was just nothing or they would talk about some of the things they had gotten up to at Beacon. During the meal, she asked what it was like growing up with such a large family and she in turn told him stories about Patch and what life was like for her and Ruby there.

They kept the more happier moments as each started to learn a bit more about the other, plus talking about good times brought back fond memories something they both felt like they needed at the moment. By the end of it both of them were in higher spirits as they finally got back to the house.

As they got to the front door, she stopped them from going inside. "So just to get our story straight. Separate beds, no nightmares and we didn't see each other in our underwear."

Jaune nodded. "Yeah I really don't want your uncle after me for that last one."

"Oh he wouldn't do anything." At least she hoped. "Say Jaune?"

"Yeah?"

"About last night, with the nightmare and all that, thank you." She said softly.

"It's okay we're both dealing with a lot of issues at the moment." He replied gently to her.

She nodded her head and looked up at him. "You're a good man Jaune."

Yang reached up with her flesh and blood hand to caress the side of his face as she got on her toes to give him a quick peck on the cheek. The boy blushed at the contact as he looked down and found her lilac eyes looking into him. They looked warm and inviting to Jaune who couldn't help but have his mind go a bit blank.

"Don't ever think or let anyone else tell you otherwise." Yang simply said before opening the door and jarring his mind into gear again.

"Hey guys we're back," Yang called out.

"YANG!" A high pitched voice called out as Ruby rushed in a flurry of rose peddles into her big sister making Yang grunt from the impact.

"Hey we told you guys we weren't going to make it back with the storm." Yang chuckled.

"I know but I can't help but worry." Ruby flushed in embarrassment it was the longest they had been apart since they got back together and a little part of her couldn't help but worry.

"Well don't be, we got a bit wet but everything worked out," Yang stretched out seeing everyone else coming into the main room.

"We're just glad you both are fine," Blake said next. "We thought you would have been here earlier."

"We stopped at a place for breakfast," Jaune explained to them.

"See." Weiss said looking at Ruby, when she saw the looks Yang and Jaune were giving her she explained. "Ruby was starting to worry an hour ago, I told her that you two either slept in or were enjoying a meal."

"Well now that's out of the way I really need to brush my hair," Yang told them heading to the stairs. Her hair was still a bit of a mess from not getting brushed after the shower and she was very particular about it. She could just feel how 'wrong' it felt on her head.

"It has looked better," Weiss commented seeing it.

"Thanks," Yang said in a flat tone. She knew Weiss didn't mean anything by it, she was just the only one that would tell her how it was without worrying. Yang climbed the stairs as she got into their room and pulled off her jacket and flung it aside. Now that she was alone she could think, well think and brush.

Getting her hairbrush out she sat on her bed starting to get her hair nice and free of tangles. She wasn't sure where to go with Jaune, oh sure she knew what she wanted to do but how was the best way to get there. She was sure that Jaune at least found her attractive but she wanted him to like her for more than her looks.

Pausing she felt that this was a good a time as any to pull out her scroll for some help. She saw that the power on it was low and quickly typed in a simple message before sending it to four people and putting it on the charger next to the bed.

Yang continued to keep brushing before the door opened and a confused Ruby and Weiss entered.

"Yang we got your message," Ruby said looking at her scroll. "But I don't get it."

"Yeah what does 'emergency girl talk needed, come to the room' mean?" Weiss asked.

"Let's wait for the others to show up first." Yang continued to brush before Nora came in looking excited and finally Blake the last to arrive not long after.

"Okay we're all here," Weiss commented on her bed. "What's going on?"

Yang sighed as she put down the brush. "I need some advice."

There was a pause as the girls could see how serious she looked. Blake sat down across from her partner as Ruby took the place next to her sister and Nora and Weiss moved closer.

Yang looked at them. "Well see, the thing is, I might have recently…started to have feelings for a certain someone."

"Feelings?" Ruby questioned.

Nora gasped as she pointed at Yang. "Yang, do you mean to tell us that you have a crush on someone?"

That got everyone's attention to the blonde as she nodded her head. This was a bit unexpected from everyone but Ruby was the first to gush out and hug her big sister.

"That's so cool!" She squealed. "Who is it? Is it someone we know?"

"Oh yeah we know him," Yang rolled her eyes.

The girls started to do a mental checklist of all the boys they knew that were around.

"It's not someone from team SSSN is it?" Blake hesitantly asked as she found that she really hoped it wasn't Sun. She was trying to figure out her own feelings for the boy. They were close that much was obvious to her. After everything they had been through lately, it was unavoidable to get close during all that and she knew that he did have feelings for her. Her mother's words of either letting him know that his feels for her were returned or not had been echoing in her mind lately.

Thinking that Yang might like Sun suddenly mad her heart feel like someone had gripped it slightly.

"Nope your boy toy is safe from me Blake," Yang teased.

Blake blushed at the nickname. "He's not my boy t-it's not like that."

"That also leaves Neptune out Weiss." Yang grinned but then paused seeing the slightly dark look on the girl's face as Blake made 'no' gestures and shaking her head outside of said girl's view.

' _Wow what happened there? Damn it I need to get out of his minefield I just stepped into,'_ Yang quickly thought.

"Well it's not Ren," Nora laughed. "I mean that would be unfortunately for you… _very_ unfortunate."

The normally bright and bubbly girl suddenly had this dark aura around her that made the other girls shift slightly away from her. They knew that Nora was crazy strong given she swung around a war hammer as a weapon like it was a paperweight.

"It's not Ren," Yang assured her as the girl suddenly went back to a cheery attitude.

"Well the only one left is…Oscar?" Ruby asked looking at her sister with a confused look.

"Ew gross!" Yang pushed her little sister a bit. "He's like over four years younger than me and is fourteen!"

"No wait he's not the only one!" Nora shouted as her eyes lit up. "There's Jaune!"

Suddenly everyone slowly looked at the blonde and there were surprised to see the small smile on her face and her face take on a soft composure.

"Oh my god," Weiss breathed out. "It's really Jaune."

"What!?" Ruby jumped onto the bed with her knees on the cushions facing her sister. "When did this happen!?"

Ruby was actually kind of all for it, Jaune was her best (male) friend after all and the thought of him and her big sister together was kind of nice. She had seen the kinds of guys that Yang tried dating over the years at Signal and she hadn't been impressed by them. Neither were dad, uncle Qrow and eventually Yang herself. Now that she thought about it, Yang had never really had a boy around her for more than a week.

Usually she would find something about the guy that she couldn't stand. She could remember times her sister coming home angry shouting about how stupid boys were or cursing someone's name. Ruby also remembered how some of those guys would try and be 'nice' to her in order to get closer to Yang. Her sister never fell for such a thing and when Yang noticed it, that was when she kicked the guy to the curb.

A few times literally, if they didn't take the hint.

"I don't know," Yang sighed as she fell onto her back staring up at the ceiling. "If you were to tell me a year ago that the boy that threw up on my shoes on that first day I would get feelings for I'd have laughed at your face."

"Well he has improved since we first met him," Weiss admitted as everyone looked at her. "What? He has, the training that I and Blake have been doing with his swordsmanship is a clear indication."

"He is doing much better," Blake commented.

"It's not just him getting stronger," Yang told them getting up. "He pushes himself harder than anyone I've known. When he gets serious about his training, he will push himself into the ground if you didn't stop him. He's also one of the kindness people I know, he's honest to a fault really, he's a bit of a dork but so our dad."

Ruby smiled at that one as she could agree one of the reasons she liked Jaune as a close friend was because of the warmth he had as a person that reminded her of how her dad was at times.

"He'd also give his life for anyone," Yang continued. "He wouldn't be afraid to help out a friend and never goes back on his word."

She let out a breath. "He's like the ultimate 'good guy' you know the kind of guy you bring home to meet the family kind of guy."

"And you like or don't like that type?" Blake was trying to gauge her partner's emotions at this moment since Yang's taste in boys from what she knew was generally on looks.

"Back then I was more into the whole 'bad boy' thing," Yang sighed thinking about how she had been before she lost her arm. "I thought that a good looking boy who wasn't afraid to break the rules would be fun to hang out with. I tried dating guys like that but they all ended up being jerks in some way."

"And now?" Weiss asked.

"Now, I don't know, I feel like everything I went through kind of opened my eyes." Yang knew she was different now. She had been change by her injury and recovery. She wasn't a new person but she wasn't as rash as she had been before for instance. "Now I guess I want a real guy, someone who will be there for me. Someone that would stand beside me that I can count on, someone I can still have a good time with and who will pull me back if I get too impulsive or down."

Ruby smiled softly. "That sounds like Jaune alright."

"I think he might be good for me," Yang said softly remembering last night of him holding her. Not saying anything, just being there for her when she needed someone.

"I think you might be good for him too." Nora said somberly as everyone looked surprised at the girl as she looked at everyone. "Me and Ren noticed it and we've been talking about it but Jaune hasn't been the same since, well since then."

"He's got so much pain and anger inside of him that it's kind of scary." Nora shifted thinking about it. "Both Ren and I are so worried about him, he keeps it all bottled up and he's tearing himself apart because of it but we don't know what to do."

Ruby looked down remembering seeing Jaune in the woods with his scroll training with the video of Pyrrha, so how he acting in that fight when he saw Cinder and lost it, how he charged ahead not carrying if he lived or died. She was scared too but she also didn't have any idea of what to do about it. Make a plan to take on the bad guys or inspire people she could do but how to heal someone's heart was beyond her.

Weiss and Blake shared looks, Blake had only heard about it after the fact what went down in the battle and Weiss nodded to her telling the Faunus that she too had seen this in that battle.

Yang was silent then, she too knew the kind of pain and how deeply it was hurting Jaune. Maybe it was the big sister part of her that just wanted to hold him and comfort him for a change as Jaune was the kind of person that carried the weight of the world on his shoulders like it was only his burden. He didn't like to bring his problems to others but he was willing to take on the problems of others as well as his own.

"So why are you talking to us about it?" Weiss asked trying to get the topic off such a somber mood. "Wouldn't you usually just go right up to a boy and flirt or whatever?"

"Normally yeah," Yang nodded. "But I've never had feelings for a friend before and I don't want to ruin it plus…plus I don't know if he's over Pyrrha. I don't want to seem like I'm replacing her to him or if he's even ready to move on."

And that was it, the major question for Yang. How do you compete with a memory? How do you get over the ghost of a love that was denied before it really began? Pyrrha was her friend too and in a way she wished she knew what the red head would think of all this. Would she consent to it? Would she have hated Yang going for Jaune? Truth was she hadn't the time to really get close enough to the girl to know that much beyond she liked Pyrrha as a friend.

Maybe it was because she had thought they would have all the time in the world to get to know one another, they were supposed to have four years together , all of them, to learn about each other but they hadn't even had a full year.

"I think I can safely say that she would want Jaune to be happy no matter what," Nora said with sad eyes. "Jaune was always first in her heart and I know she would hate seeing him like this. She would want him to move on and find someone again and not spend the rest of his life in mourning, lost in all that pain he keeps inside."

Yang smiled sadly" Yeah, she was that kind of person wasn't she?"

Maybe she did know the girl well enough to believe that much. She just hoped that wherever Pyrrha was now Yang had the girl's blessing to try.

"I think I got what I needed." Yang said a bit more upbeat.

"So what are you going to do?" Ruby asked eager for the answer.

Yang smirked, "I think I'm going to see if I can get myself my own little knight in shining armor."

"Well you got our support!" Ruby jumped up and hugged her sister.

"This is so coo." Nora smiled brightly. "Oh this means you can go on double dates with me and Ren."

Yang smiled at that, "Maybe later first I got to tell him how I feel and see from there."

As the girls wished her luck they all left to go about their day, all but Blake as she stood there looking conflicted about something. Yang noticed this as she was wondering what was going through the dark haired girl's mind. Things between them weren't fully patched up, sure a lot of work had been put into it but there was still the phantom pain of her leaving like she had.

"So what's up?" Yang asked.

"Can I ask for your advice on something?" Blake hesitantly asked.

"Sure thing."

"How do you know if telling someone how you feel is the right choice?" She asked. "How do you know that this is the right move to make?"

"I don't."

"But what if things don't go well?" Blake asked getting a bit more emotional now. "What if it ends up being a mistake or what if something really bad happens?"

"Then it happens." Yang shrugged and looked at her partner. "Blake it's all about risk, Jaune might not return my feelings and yeah it will suck but I'll get over it. Maybe he'll respond and we end up dating, no one knows how things will turn out. We could end up finding out we were better off as friends down the line or well, we could end up together."

She felt her cheeks heat up a little at that thought but quickly pushed it aside, it was way too early to even think of stuff like that. Yang got up and placed her hands on Blake's shoulders.

"If you want to know why I'm doing this it's because I think it's worth it," Yang simply told her looking into her yellow eyes. "I'm not going to run away from my problems, I'm not going to hide away from the world."

She silently added 'not again' in her mind.

Blake's ears dropped as she thought about it, really thought about how she felt about Sun. When she thought about him she felt this lightness inside and when she thought of her life without him, she felt a weight on her. He had been with her in her worst moments and he always tried to bring a ray of sunlight into her light.

"So what are you going to do about it girl?" Yang challenged her with the same words she had said to herself earlier that morning.

Blake looked up into a set of strong lilac colored eyes and felt a bit of that strength into her.

"I think I know now." Blake stated with a determined look.

Yang grinned. "Good girl."

 **TBC…**


	15. Chapter 15: Taking a Chance

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 15: Taking a Chance**

Jaune was fully geared in the dojo as he swung his sword a few times to loosen up a little. He was wondering how many more days they would have to train before they left on the next leg of their trip. So he wanted to get in a bit more training when they could. He felt as if he had been learning many things and felt a bit more refined than when he started out.

Sure, he still felt he wasn't on the same level as some of the others but he was much stronger than when he first started out at Beacon. He heard the door open as he saw Weiss enter the room.

"No Blake today?" Jaune asked her.

"She said she had something personal to take care of," Weiss explained as she pulled her sword out and got in front of him. She got into a basic stance for her as Jaune did the same only with his own style that he learned from Pyrrha.

"Let's see how much you've learned," Weiss stated as Jaune nodded his head and she was suddenly leapt forward.

Jaune knew that she was faster than he was so he had prepared for her quick strike. Using his shield he tried to deflect her blade and counter but she moved away easily. He always did think when she fought it was almost as if she was dancing at times. The grace of her movements was not hard for him to be impressed by as she moved around the dojo with what looked like a natural grace and precession.

Weiss was only using her sword skills against Jaune, while she could use her glyphs and her newly unlocked ability to summon she wanted to use more martial skills. During her fight, she had lost focused and nearly died because of it and so she wanted to train her body to react. Jaune's sword skills while not at her own level was impressive he was holding his own after so little time being properly trained.

Jaune never tried to let Weiss out from his vision, she wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of any openings he had, he learned that the hard way early on in their training together.

As they continued on Weiss would help to point out any holes or flaws in his technique as she tried to find a new way to get around him. A few times she would strike him, his aura taking the hit as he then tried to close that hole in his guard. Weiss had been training enough with Jaune to know that once he did seem to learn faster than an average person. Sure he still got hit sometimes but she could see him slowly improve.

For Jaune these spars were helpful for him, with Weiss he learned how to fight a left handed person. It was odd at first because when a right handed person fought a right handed they generally were in the same position. With a lefty, depending on the style and body position trying to hit her torso she would force him to cut inwards which was more difficult then slashing outward as he had to change his grip with his wrist up instead of down. And Weiss took every advantage of that as well in their training.

With Blake while she was right hand dominant, she did duel wield at times with her sheath forcing Jaune to keep in mind of two attacks that could come at any moment instead of just one. He had to learn to use his sword and shield to a better degree with Blake.

Both of them with their helpful hints and training he felt his sword style was coming along.

"Hey I hope you didn't tire him out so soon," Yang's voice called out as both stopped to see the blonde in her workout clothing leaning on the door.

"Has it been an hour already?" Weiss asked as she had lost time. She felt the sweat on her body and the aching in her limbs and was wondering how long they had been going at it.

"Yep, time to switch."

"I'll take a break if you don't mind," Jaune put away his sword as he started to slip out of his armor.

"I'll take a shower," Weiss nodded to him as she walked to the exit. She passed Yang and gave the girl a small smile with a nod. Yang gave a small one back as she started a stretching routine as Jaune got some water and rested up a little.

After some time for Jaune to cool down as limber up Yang started their work out slow as to not push him too much. She started with just the pads as they worked on his form and punching combos as they had in the past. She would call something out and he would do it, as the dojo rang with her voice followed by the 'whack' sound of his fist hitting the pads.

Yang smiled as he had really improved in their time together, sure he was nowhere near her level but she felt confident that his skills at least would be better now if he ever lost his weapon in a fight. Maybe after this she should start with kicks and then maybe some grappling. She mentally grinned at that last one the idea of them wrestling on the ground together in very intimate poses was a bit appealing to her at that moment.

Unfortunately, her daydreaming caused her to become distracted and didn't see the fist until it was too late as it impacted into her face.

"Ow!" Yang's hand went to her face as a slight golden glow came over her face for a second.

"Yang!" Jaune panicked seeing her take the hit.

She waved him off as she rubbed the spot a bit. "No worries my aura took the hit."

"I am so sorry." He felt horrible, sure it was training, but hitting a girl in the face just felt so wrong to him. Sure he could fight a woman in battle but hitting one in the face, it left a sour taste in his mouth.

"Don't be it was my fault for spacing out." Yang told him taking off the pads. "Okay how about we take a break then."

"Are you okay?" Jaune asked as they got some water over by a bench. "You don't usually 'space out' when training."

Yang smirked at that, "Yeah you're right. Well the thing is something's come up and I can't get it out of my mind."

"Oh? Anything I can help with?" He honestly asked her.

She had to admit his need to help others was endearing. She smirked as she put her water bottle down and walked up to him. "Well the thing is there's this guy I can't get out of my mind and I'm thinking of asking him out."

"What, really? Who?"

Yang grinned as she had a feeling that he wouldn't know, it wasn't as if she had given any major signals but she figured with him, the direct approach was best. She walked towards him as she slides her hands on his chest and placed them on his shoulders.

Jaune tensed up in surprise as he looked down as her eyes bore into his own. She couldn't mean him right? This was Yang he was thinking about but the way her hands were, the way she was looking at him.

"Y-Yang are, are you just teasing me again?" He gulped.

"Not this time," Yang told him.

"Why? I mean, well this is kind of sudden." He told her.

"Tell me about it," She smirked, "But I think it's been growing since that night we had that talk. At first, I just wanted us to be better friends but as we hung out and after, well after last night. I suddenly realized that morning that you meant more than just a friend to me."

"So…you're in love with me?"

Yang burst out laughing, "Don't get too far ahead there Vomit Boy. No, I'm not in love with you, I think that's something that takes a lot more time but I do like you. I think we've both grown and matured since we first met. I like the kind of guy you've become and I want to see if there's anything we would be together."

Jaune wasn't sure what to say, he wanted to say something but he felt like something was holding him back from saying anything. Part of him couldn't believe this was happening to him, that Yang of all people said that she liked him. He never saw this coming and he was left feeling conflicted inside.

"I…I'm at a loss here Yang," Jaune said confused. "I mean I don't know what to think."

Yang looked disappointed but in honesty, she had thought about this. Jaune had lost someone very important to him and she wasn't even sure he had completely come to terms with it all. She didn't want to push him into something he might not be ready for but she had to at least let him know there was an option. She wouldn't wait and she wanted to deal with this issue head on instead of leaving it alone.

Still, she was a bit disappointed.

"Well you don't have to answer Jaune," she pulled away from him. "I just wanted to let you know what's going. I didn't want to blindside you with it but if you need time to think it over then that's okay too. Just…"

She paused as she started to leave the room. "Just when you make up your mind, just let me know."

He wanted to call out to her but the words wouldn't leave his mouth, he just stood there like a dumb statue, as his body was unable to move. He wanted to tell her something anything but he had no words. He just stood there watching her leave and feeling confused and alone.

As Yang exited the room, she noticed that Ruby and Weiss were outside, Weiss had obviously cleaned up as both were waiting with eager looks on their face. Yang had on a sad smile and shook her head.

"Whaaaa?" Ruby's shoulders slumped as Weiss looked both disappointed and a bit worried at Yang.

"He needed to think about it," Yang told them but kept on going, she didn't want to talk about it and just went up the stairs to their room. She just wanted to get clean and, well she didn't know after that. She just didn't know.

 **-Blake-**

Blake knew what she wanted to do she just needed to find Sun and finally say what was on her mind. A part of her worried that this wouldn't work out, that something would happen like it always did. For a moment, she was starting to think that her love life was cursed since the last person she was with turned out to not be the man she thought he had been. Maybe he had been once and had changed and she had just been too blinded by her feelings to notice, she didn't know.

All she knew was that that part of her life was and maybe she was ready to try and open up a new one, like opening up a new chapter in a book.

She found all of team SSSN with Ilia sitting outside the house just talking, from the sounds of it they were sharing stories most likely they were trying to get to know Ilia better and also make her feel more at ease. Blake knew that her friend was still a little unsure being around everyone but she was slowly starting to open up which was good for her.

Blake walked into view as Sun was the first to notice and smiled and waved at her. For some reason just seeing him smile at her like that made her feel a bit warmer in her chest. She gave a small smile back as she joined them.

"What's up?" She asked.

"They were telling me about the Vytal tournament matches they had," Ilia commented. "I missed it as I, well I had other things going on." She fell a bit silent at that, as it was most likely White Fang business she had been on at that time.

"Hey don't sweat it," Neptune told her with a wave. "We've all done thing we regret."

"Some more than others," Sage nodded his head towards Sun.

"Hey I regret nothing in my life," He grinned crossing his arms.

Blake smirked at that as she walked up to Sun, "Can I borrow you for a second?"

"Yeah sure," Sun jumped down from perching himself on a railing. "Hey, don't you guys dare tell her about that you know what story."

"The what?" Ilia blinked.

Sun made a zipping motion with his lips at his team as Blake led him away. She gave him a sideways look. "Do I want to know what story that is?"

"Nope." Sun shook his head. "Anyways what did you want to talk about?"

"I…I wanted to talk about us," Blake took a breath. "I've been thinking a lot lately and well, I've been thinking about you a lot."

"Thinking good things or bad things?" Sun asked her.

"Good things," She told him with a small smile looking down. It was strange she felt like she was confessing a schoolgirl crush on a boy in school, at least how she imagined it would feel. The only thing she had close to this was a scene from one of her romance novels she liked to read.

Sun smiled warmly at her as he gently touched her shoulders making her look up at him. "Yeah I kind of got you have a lot going on so I didn't want to push anything but you most likely know how I feel. I'm not exactly the most subtle person on the planet."

Blake gave a small chuckle. "Yeah but I needed to sort some stuff out. My last relationship I got burned pretty bad."

"Guy's a total dick too." Sun said.

"Anyways I wanted to try and give this a chance, that is, if you still want to." Blake asked shyly unsure of his answer.

Sun pulled her into a hug, which she at first was startled by the action but soon, found herself slowly finding herself embracing it. She never knew that Sun felt so warm until now feeling his body pressed up against hers like this.

"Of course I want to, I knew from the first moment I saw you that there was something special about you Blake," Sun told her softly. "The more I got to know you, the more I wanted to get closer to you. You just kind of drew me in like no other girl has ever done. Doesn't hurt that you're beautiful and a kickass fighter too."

She smirked at the last part. "So I'm not 'above average' then?"

Sun winced as he pulled back. "I'm sorry I was panicking, you're dad is pretty intimidating you know."

"Still you know I'm not above average," she gave a small glare at him.

"Noted," he nodded and then smiled. "So does this mean I can take you out on an actual date now?"

"I suppose so." She gave a small smile in return.

"Cool I want to get in as much time with you as possible before we leave for Vacuo." He grinned.

Blake paused, as she looked confused. "Sun, we're going to Argus."

Now it was Sun's turn to give her a look before he smacked his head. "Damn it I forgot. I was going to tell you today."

"Tell me what?" Blake's stomach suddenly dropped.

"Well looking at your team I started to realize something." Sun sighed scratching the back of his neck. "I suck as a team leader. I keep ditching them and going off on my own. Hell just look at our tournament match, only me and Neptune passed and that was only because we got lucky with the environment."

"We need to be better, I need to be better," he finished.

"But you can do that with us." Blake nearly begged him she couldn't believe this was happening. All the worry and all the build up and this was how it ended?

"Yeah but with everything we learned the other two academies are going to be next and we have no way of knowing if it will be Atlas or Shade." Sun explained to her. "If you guys are going to Atlas then we can go to Vacuo and start getting things ready there. Plus our team can train and get better because I know we'll need to be better for what's coming."

Blake looked down sad as her ears flattened.

"Hey," Sun gently lifted her chin up to look at him. "I know the timing sucks but it's not like we'll never see each other again. You guys go to Atlas and do what you have to do there, then you come to Vacuo and we'll see each other again."

"But…but I just figured out my feelings and you're leaving." Blake felt like her heart was breaking all over again.

Sun caressed her cheek. "I know and it sucks but I'm not what you need now. You need your team, you need your friends, that's where you need to be for now."

"But what if I need you?" Blake told him. "You've been there for me twice now when I needed someone, when I was at my lowest points in my life. First when I had that fight with Weiss and then after Beacon."

"And I'll always be there when you actually need me Blake," Sun smiled at her. "You may want me around but you don't actually need me, not like you need your team at least."

"I have no idea how long it will be," Blake told him honestly. For all she knew this whole thing could take a month or a year or more.

"Well then I'll wait for you."

"Wait for me?"

"Yep," he nodded. "I'll wait and you know why? Because I think you're worth waiting for Blake. We may be apart now but I know we'll see each other again no matter how many times we get pulled apart I'll wait, if your lost then I'll find you, if you really need me I'll be there and that's a promise."

"Man I hope that didn't sound too cheesy," he chuckled after a moment of silence.

Blake just pulled him to her burying her face in his chest, "No. It was just right."

 **-That Night-**

Jaune couldn't sleep, all he could do was toss and turn as Yang kept running through his thoughts. The whole day had been tense, when he saw Yang at dinner she hadn't spoke to him, she tried to play it off like everything was okay but he could see that she wasn't happy. She wasn't sad or depressed, maybe she was just disappointed, he could see the others that seemed to be in the know looking at her with concern and it was all eating Jaune up inside.

Why? Why couldn't he have given her an answer?

He didn't know.

Ren's question on if he liked Yang kept ringing in his head. He decided to get up and slip out of the room. He needed some air, maybe a midnight snack or something, anything to get his mind to slow down a bit. Carefully he slipped out of the room trying not to wake Nora and Ren. He paused looking at them both sleeping next to each other's bed like back in school. He envied them, they both knew what they wanted and had it.

Walking down the hallway he mentally cursed each and every creak the floor made, it wasn't actually loud but to him it sounded like wood snapping. He really didn't want to wake anyone else up with his problems as he made it to the first floor.

He found a lamp in the dark, turned it on, and sat down on the couch. What was he going to do?

How did he feel about Yang? That was the problem sure he thought of her as a friend in fact they were becoming closer friends but was he really ready to take it somewhere further? He tried that with Weiss, which failed horribly, and then Pyrrha, he had never noticed her feelings until it was too late.

So what was he going to do with Yang? Jaune looked at the ceiling as the entire day his mind had been in turmoil about this trying to figure out how he exactly felt about her. There was also something else he noticed throughout the day and that was he felt scared.

Scared because he wasn't only not sure how he felt but scared that he might like her back. He still had nightmares of his partner dying with him unable to do anything. Maybe he was scared of opening up again only to lose someone else. Maybe he was scared of screwing things up. He just wished he could figure things out.

Yang also couldn't sleep that night, sure Jaune hadn't technically rejected her but he hadn't accepted it either. The whole thing felt unfinished to her, she wished it would just happen one way or another and just get it over with. Maybe she had been right and he hadn't gotten over Pyrrha enough to think about dating. Maybe she just wasn't the type of girl he wanted? Now that question only led to more questions such as what about her didn't he like or what about her wasn't good enough.

These stupid questions kept plaguing her mind until she sat up quickly. She hadn't taken her arm off yet and she needed to get some kind of sleep but her mind was too twisted up to relax. She thought that maybe hitting something would help tire her out at least as she made her way to door.

She was careful not to wake the others but as soon as she was in the hall, she noticed a light on downstairs. Someone must have left a light on, as she didn't hear anyone moving down there. She walked down the hall and down the stairs as she looked at the light source and now she wished she had stayed in bed.

There sitting on the couch was Jaune, she was hoping she could just go back up and not have him notice her but he looked up and their eyes met.

' _Damn, so much for that idea,'_ She mentally sighed.

"Oh Yang, did I wake you?"

"No couldn't sleep."

"Oh," He was silent a moment as he knew the reason for it. "Same here."

Yang did sigh now this couldn't go on, they were friends and the both of them being odd around each other wouldn't help in the long run. She walked over to him and sat down as she figured she might as well get this over with.

"Sorry I put all this on you Jaune," Yang sighed. "Look if this is all too much we can just stay as friends. I don't want things to get weird between us."

Jaune was silent a moment, "I'm the one that should be saying sorry to you, I'm too much of a coward to give you an answer."

"Hey I've seen you fight and you're no coward."

"I think I am," Jaune sighed looking at his hands in his lap. "I think I'm just scared of getting close to someone again, the last person I did, she died Yang. You know I still get nightmares about it and I think I'm just scared to try again."

Yang reached out and placed a hand on his. "You know I'm kind of scared too."

He looked at her in surprise but she went on. "I've never actually had a boyfriend before, sure there were dates but nothing worked out. I think I was just into the wrong type of guy who I never really looked past their looks and in the end they never looked past mine."

She gave a bit of a humorless laugh. "Is that ironic or hypocritical? Me going only after looks but getting mad when they do the same to me?"

"Yang," He said tenderly. "I don't think that of you, you're a wonderful person."

Now she gave a small genuine smile. "I know and I know that's how you look at me, I think that's what started this. You see me for more than just a pretty face, you actually _see_ me."

She looked at him with expressive eyes, "I _see_ you too Jaune. I've seen how hard you try and push yourself to help everyone, how much it hurts inside and yet you still go on. You're stronger here than anyone else I've ever known."

Yang reached out with her metal hand to touch his chest over his heart.

"I…I don't feel strong," Jaune whispered out still staring into those eyes.

"I know, we don't always feel strong Jaune," Yang told him. "You know what my dad told me when I first started training? He would say 'strength isn't the same as power, real strength is when you get knocked down and you pick yourself back up to try again even if you know you'll fail again'."

"I kind of like that," he said.

"Yeah I really didn't fully get it until recently," Yang nodded her head. Recent events while she had been recovering had led her to start thinking on her life and seeing things she never would have before. She had grown from her injury, sure she was still not over it, but she was starting to feel like a better person after going through it.

Jaune looked into her lilac colored eyes he felt drawn by them and for the first time in the entire day, he felt calm.

"So, you really like me then?" Jaune asked.

"Yep," She said playfully. "What about me?"

Jaune paused really thinking about it. "I'll be honest, you're very beautiful Yang and I think you're great and…well…I think I do like you. Lately things between us have been pretty great, I'm just worried I'll screw things up between us or of something bad happening."

"Then how about this." She started, as she got serious. "We make a pack here like we did that first night we had that talk before we started getting to know each other better. No matter what happens between us, we'll always be friends. I don't want to lose that either Jaune but I'm not afraid to try something to see, well to see if something more can happen."

Jaune swallowed thinking that he was really going through with this, he was really going to try. He nodded his head. "Yeah, no matter what we'll be still be friends."

They sat there smiling at each other for a moment in the silence of the room.

"So…I guess we're dating now?" Jaune asked.

"Yep," Yang grinned as she pushed him onto his back as she quickly straddled him.

"Y-Yang!?" Jaune wasn't sure what she was planning as she was on top of him.

"A few things you should know if you're going to date me," Yang told him getting very close to his face her hands caressing the sides of his face. "I'm a very affectionate person so expect lots of displays of public affection."

"G-got it," He nodded as he wasn't sure what to do here. She was pressing up against him that he could feel her body against his own, especially her chest as it rubbed into his own.

She smirked almost reading his mind. "Hands on my hips or back but nowhere else for now. At least not until we get a few more dates in." She winked at him.

Jaune placed his hands on her shapely hips as his bare hands felt the warmth of her flesh, Yang for her part felt the roughness of his hands from all his training with a sword and shield and she kind of liked that feeling of his strong hands on her.

"Now as for the last thing we need," Yang leans down and captures his lips with her own.

Jaune quickly returns it, he couldn't help but compare it with the only other kiss he's received in his life. Where Pyrrha's kiss had been gentle and loving, Yang's was passionate as she pressed into him. Both were different but in both cases, he could feel the emotion behind them. He ran a hand along her spine as she moaned into his mouth.

Yang broke it as she stared into his blue eyes and licked her lips. "Not bad Lover Boy."

"Not bad?" Jaune asked, as he knew he didn't have much experience so he was a bit worried he was going to disappoint her.

She noticed the slight worry in his eyes and smiled, "No worries, we just need a bit more practice."

With that, she leaned down and kissed him again as Jaune kissed back with a bit more passion. Yang ran her flesh hand down to his chest rubbing it as she poked her tongue into Jaune's lips. He got the hint and opened his mouth as both of them moaned as their tongues danced against each other.

After a time both of them took a break, both breathing heavily and slightly flushed.

"Now that's better," Yang grinned at him and Jaune smiled back up at her. She stretched out as she rested her head on his shoulder. "I think this is going to work out well."

"I hope so," Jaune softly said as one hand was on the small of her back making small circles which Yang was finding out she liked. She then felt his hand starting to run through her hair, normally she wouldn't let anyone touch it but Jaune's touch was surprisingly gentle as he slowly combed it with his fingers. It was actually kind of relaxing to her.

She sighed in contentment. "You know you're the only one I'll let touch my hair like this, so you better be careful about it."

"I will," He stated as he had gotten to know she prided herself on her hair, which he had to admit, was very nice.

After some time Jaune knew that, they couldn't stay there forever, even though it did feel nice. "We should probably get to bed."

"Just a bit longer," Yang sighed snuggling up against him. "You're surprisingly comfortable."

Jaune didn't really want to move either so maybe just five more minutes would do it. Five minutes turned to ten and then after that both of them lost track of time as both of them slowly fell asleep in each other's arms with the only light of the lamp covering them in its faint glow in the night.

 **TBC…**


	16. Chapter 16: First Date

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 16: First Date**

Weiss yawned as she stretched out as the morning son woke her up. She checked the time and found it was time to get up. She sat up in the bed and looked around, Blake and Ruby were still asleep but she noticed that Yang's bed was empty. It did look as though Yang had been in it but maybe she had woken up early?

With a shrug Weiss took this chance to get into the bathroom first, Yang usually took the longest so it was always good to get in before her. By the time she had dried and changed Blake was already up and switching with her. Weiss went over to Ruby's bed seeing her partner and friend snuggling up with that teddy bear again. She sighed and shook her head, even now, Ruby still acted in a childish manner, even in her sleep but then again that was just part of who she was.

"Ruby time to get up." Weiss shook her.

Ruby muttered something only to turn on her side.

Weiss sighed, "Oh look they just made a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies."

"Wha?" A groggy Ruby looked up.

Weiss shook her head, she had learned that trick from Yang when the elder sister got Ruby up a few times when Ruby had a hard time getting up in the morning back at Beacon. Weiss picked the girl up, helping her up off her bed.

"Come on, time to get up."

"Okay," Ruby yawned, then blinked a few times. "Are Yang and Blake up?"

"I think so, Blake's already in the shower and I think Yang got up early?" Weiss wasn't sure on the last part. Ruby gave a halfhearted answer as Weiss helped to wake her up.

After some showering and changing the girls left their room to see Oscar already up, this wasn't a surprise as they had gotten used to the young boy being up early as he had explained he was used to getting up with the dawn.

"Morning," He said as the others replied.

Weiss was the first to the stairs as she wondered what they were going to do today. She and the rest of her friends were a little worried about the weird atmosphere between Jaune and Yang. It wasn't like they could force something to happen but it was a little on edge with everyone that knew what was going on.

"You think Yang's going to be okay?" A worried Ruby asked.

"I think so," Weiss answered. "She just needs…"

She trailed off as she suddenly stopped on the stairs as Blake ran into her back from her suddenly stopping.

"Weiss, what's goi-" Blake didn't finish as Weiss make a quiet motion and then pointed to her left.

They were confused before they looked and there on the couch was Jaune sleeping there but he wasn't alone. Yang was on top of him cuddling up against him both of them looked very peaceful and the scene was just too perfect.

"When did this happen?" Oscar asked in a hushed tone.

"Last night?" Blake said unsure of the answer. She had been told that Yang had gone to Jaune but he hadn't given her an answer. Apparently, something must have happened last night to change it, at least she hoped it had.

"Hey what's going on?" Nora's voice from the top of the steps came out suddenly.

They all turned to see Nora with Ren and Kali there as they were making their way down to get breakfast started. All four of those on the ground floor turned to her with a whispering gesture. The new comers blinked as slowly they came down and when they did they were surprised by the sight on the couch.

"Oh, that's just adorable," Kali cooed. "Reminds me of when Ghira and myself first started seeing each other."

"They look so good," Ruby gushed. "Anyone have their scroll?"

"Ruby!" Weiss hissed at her.

"What? She'd do the same to me," Ruby whispered back.

"Got it," Nora grinned as she started to take pictures.

Jaune groaned as he felt something on the edge of his consciousness. He shifted slightly but something was on him. He groaned as he blinked his eyes open to see a ceiling of the living room. For a moment, he was wondering why he was downstairs but the feel of Yang's body and her soft breathing made him remember what happened last night.

He looked down to see her golden mane of hair as he had to smile, he couldn't believe that he had agreed to date her but on the other hand a part of him felt nice.

"Morning," A voice said to his left.

Jaune's eyes widened as he quickly looked and saw that they were not alone. Standing not far away there were Ruby and Weiss having huge smiles on their faces, Blake was grinning as Nora was bouncing on her feet in excitement. Kali was standing with looking with adoring eyes at them like a person would look at something adorable. Ren just stood there with his arms crossed with a smile as Oscar looked a little bashful at the scene almost as if he wanted at least to give them some privacy.

"Uh…Yang?" He nudged the girl.

Yang's brow furrowed as she groaned and turned her head the other way and tried to snuggle deeper into him.

"Yang." He pleaded a bit louder.

"Let me sleep," Yang told him.

"We really should get up now," Jaune urged her.

"You're too comfy," She replied.

This only caused him to blush as a few of the others were holding back some laughter.

"We're not alone," Jaune told her nudging her again.

"What do you mean we're not…" She had pushed herself up and noticed that they had fallen asleep on the couch and then noticed they weren't alone like he had said. She felt her cheeks heat up, as this was not the way she wanted to tell the others that she was now dating him. "Oh…uh, hi?"

"So what happened?" Nora rushed forward with expecting eyes like a kid awaiting a present.

"Well we talked last night and, well we're dating," Yang shrugged as best she could in the position she was in.

"That's so great!" Nora shouted out. "We can go on double dates and everything!"

"Who's going on double dates?" Qrow's voice called out from the stairs. He had heard some kind of commotion and what he hadn't expected was to see most of the household gathered in the living room and his niece straddling Jaune on the couch.

He paused a moment looking at the situation, "Mind telling me what's going on?"

"Oh uh, well the thing is," Jaune gulped, he had no idea what Qrow would feel about the whole thing, also this wasn't exactly the best position for them to be in either.

Yang sat up getting off Jaune as he did the same, they were sitting next to each other and Yang slid her hand into his. "Well the thing is, we're going to start dating."

Qrow blinked, as he wasn't sure he heard that right but looking at them he was surprised. "How long was I asleep for?"

He had no idea that his niece even liked the guy but there they were. For a moment, Qrow had a flashback to how Tai and Raven had looked when they had told the team they were dating. It was a bit different but it reminded him of that day. He had to admit, Tai was his best friend and while he didn't want to know anything about his sister's sex life, he was glad that they had gotten together.

Raven seemed better when she had been with Tai, at least for while it lasted.

Seeing his niece now, he could see the same look her mother had. Qrow just shrugged and went to the kitchen. "So what's for breakfast?"

"Huh…I was expecting something else," Ruby asked blinking.

"Yeah I was kind of expecting something else too," Jaune was thankful about it though, he had images of the man coming at him with his scythe.

What they didn't know was that while Qrow had known that his niece had flirted a lot while Signal she had never had a decent boyfriend. He had gotten to know Jaune on the trip and while he could see the boy was still hurting deep inside he cared for those around him. He was a good kid and he had a feeling he would treat Yang right, plus he owed him for helping to save his life when he had been poisoned.

Of course that didn't get the boy out of a talk he planned on having with him the first chance he got. This was family business after all and while he would be the first to admit he wasn't the most responsible adult, he cared for what happened to both Yang and Ruby. Those girls meant the world to him and were the closest things to having kids he might ever have in his life. Oh yeah, Jaune was going to get a talk that was sure, he was patient and he could wait for the prime time to get the boy alone.

"I think we should shower and change," Yang got up taking Jaune by the hand if only to get out of the room. She normally liked being the center of attention but this wasn't exactly the kind of attention she would like.

"Be sure it's separate showers," Qrow called out.

Yang and Jaune froze as Yang turned around quickly with a blushing face as she looked both mortified and outraged. "Qrow! We haven't even gotten far enough for that!"

"Just making sure Tai doesn't end up a grandfather on my watch," he replied with a smirk.

"You are the absolute worst!" she marched off with Jaune in tow.

Qrow only smirked with a chuckle as Ruby glared her uncle.

"Really?" Ruby sighed at him.

"Oh don't pretend that reaction wasn't funny," Qrow told her.

Upstairs Yang was blushing up a storm, she could dish it out but she couldn't take it when someone teased her back like that. Jaune hadn't seen this side of Yang before, he had to admit, it was kind of cute to see. He stopped though as soon as Yang got to the door.

"Yang, that's your room." He warned her.

Yang blinked realizing she was about to pull him into the room with her. She had been so worked up she hadn't even been thinking. She let go of his hand as she started to play with her hair a bit, a nervous habit she had at times.

"Sorry, I was all riled up and wasn't thinking."

"It's okay," he assured her although now he had the mental image in his head of Yang in the shower with her and quickly pushed that aside. It was too soon in their relationship to start thinking about that, at least he thought it was, he wasn't sure exactly what the rules where here on that.

"Hey Yang," He said getting her attention. "I want to take you out tonight."

"Oh?" Yang smirked as she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck. "Starting off right away huh?"

"Well we don't have much time before we leave and I want us to have some dates before then," Jaune could feel her up against his chest and his hands went to her sides. The top she wore left her lower torso exposed as his hands ran gently along her sides.

"Sounds good to me," she replied. "You got something planned?"

"Uh, well," Jaune blanked he had a vague idea but he wasn't sure. This was his first real date but his mind quickly started to plan for something although he might need some help. "I think I can come up with something."

"Well looking forward to it Lover Boy," She smirked.

"Is that my new nick name now?" It was a bit embarrassing but at least it was better than Vomit Boy.

"Maybe," She teased. "Then again you've gotten further with me than any other guy."

"Wait, really?" Jaune blinked in confusion.

Yang put on an offended act, "Sleep with me two nights in a row and see me in my underwear isn't enough? I'm not that easy you know."

"W-we weren't even dating then," Jaune blushed at the memory. "Plus don't say it like that."

He quickly looked around in a hushed tone. "What if someone heard that? They would totally get the wrong idea about it."

"Oh relax they're all downstairs," Yang patted his shoulder. "Well then, I'm going to shower and I'll be looking forward to our date."

 **-Later-**

Jaune had a few things he needed to take care of for tonight, he was actually pretty nervous as this was his first real date in his life and he wanted it to go well. First, though he needed some help and the only ones he could get help were thankfully here at the moment. Out back behind the house, he saw team SSSN. Apparently, they wanted to get in some training with them before they left for Vacuo.

The big guy Sage, Jaune didn't know well, he was kind of a quiet type like Ren used to be when they first met. Currently he was facing off against Nora while Ren was facing the other one Jaune didn't know too well, Scarlet.

Sun and Neptune were off to the side watching which was perfect for Jaune as he wanted to talk to them. They were the ones he knew best of all anyway so they would be easier to talk to.

"Hey guys." Jaune came up to them.

"Yo, Jaune what's up man?" Sun smiled at him always a guy that would warmly welcome a person.

"I, uh…I need some advice," Jaune rubbed the back of his neck. "See I got a date with Yang tonight-"

He didn't even get to finish before Neptune looked at him with shock.

"Wait-what!?" Neptune turned to Sun. "When did this happen?"

"Last night apparently," Sun shrugged, Blake had filled him in earlier in the day he faced Jaune again. "Congratulations man."

"Thanks," Jaune smiled at it, it still felt strange being with Yang but it was the first day after all.

"I didn't even know you were going after her," Neptune told him and then thought about it. "Man what's your secret?"

"I wasn't really after her," Jaune said slightly embarrassed. "I mean it just kind of happened. I still don't know how it happened but she just came up to me and told me that she liked me."

"Damn," Neptune nodded his head. "Well played, letting the girl come to you."

"Forget him," Sun said slightly shoving Neptune. "So you needed something?"

"Oh right," Jaune remembered the idea he had needed help with. "Well I've been looking up places to go here but I wanted to take Yang to a good restaurant. Since you guys went to school here I'm kind of hoping that you might know of a good place or two to take her."

"Well do you want super fancy? Because you'll need better threads than that," Neptune pointed as his armor and hoodie. "Plus it would be more expensive too."

"Well I don't want to go overboard," Jaune thought about trying to think of what he wanted.

"Not sure, Neptune you got any ideas?" Sun hadn't really dated much at Haven, he kind of got into a bit too much trouble at times for it. The few times he did ask a girl out he hadn't gone to some fancy place, he liked to keep things simple.

"Ah I might know of a place. Can I see your scroll?" Neptune asked as Jaune handed it over. He looked through it and put in a name and address in for him. "Here you go it's a good place to go for a date. It's got good food, you can dress up a bit but you don't have to go overboard and it's reasonably priced. For a first date I can say that's a place to go."

"Wow really, thanks." Jaune said looking at what he had put into his scroll. He figured it wouldn't be too had to find with the address too. He was glad he wouldn't have to dress up too much, he was just going to wear those clothing he got for the club after all, with that all set he started on the next part of his plan.

As the day went by, it was generally normal however by evening the room for team RWBY was anything but normal. Yang had showered and changed into the new clothing she got here as she checked herself out in a mirror.

"Maybe I should have gotten a new top," She muttered as she was wearing her leather jacket minus the tails on it. Thankfully, that part could come off and since she wasn't riding her bike, she didn't need it. She checked out the leather pant she had on and happily, they still looked good.

"I think you look good sis," Ruby eagerly sat on her bed almost bouncing with the energy.

"Well these pants do make my ass look great," Yang, stated turning around to look at her backside with a grin. "Although sometimes I kind of wish I had an ass like yours Blake."

"Really?" Blake rolled her eyes.

"Hey you got it going on there," Yang told her with a grin. "Too bad that long coat you wear now makes it impossible to see it."

"Why do you think I started to wear it?" Blake asked her, he knew well enough that plenty of eyes went down there when she passed some people.

"Besides how often is Jaune be even able to see it?" Weiss asked from her bed reading her scroll. She was looking up the cost for new dust in the area as well as looking for a new carrying case as she lost hers in the plane crash and hadn't gotten round to needing a new one until now.

"A girl should always be prepared," Yang told them as she went to the mirror to start to apply some light orange eye shadow. She didn't want to go overboard as Jaune had texted her to dress nice but don't worry about getting anything crazy. Still she wasn't one to go in with half measures and after that it was working on her eye lashes and finally lipstick.

She had gone out earlier to get some much needed beauty supplies as she finished with a red lipstick. Looking at herself in the mirror she had to admit, she looked hot without going overboard. That was something she preferred, she liked to just use a little to enhance her natural beauty and wasn't like those girls that wore a lot of makeup.

A knock at the door got all their attentions as they felt a moment of tenseness.

"Nervous?" Ruby asked.

"Naw," Yang waved it off although she wouldn't admit it, she kind of did. First dates were always a little nerve racking as there were so many unknowns that could happen. She had plenty of first dates, but after that not many second or third. Jaune however she felt different from those guys, after all this was her first time dating the 'good boy' type so maybe it would surprise her in the long run.

Yang opened the door and the first thing she saw was yellow and black in the forms of a bucay of a mixture of black and yellow flowers. Yang stared at them blinking in surprise before she noticed Jaune behind them looking as nervous as the first day at school.

"H-hey these, I mean, I got these for you." He stuttered.

"No one's ever given me flowers before," Yang said softly to herself. She gently took the flowers and as they got closer she could smell the fragrance, it was a nice mixture of a smell and she couldn't stop herself from taking a breath.

"I know that yellow and black are your favorite colors," Jaune nervously. "Took me awhile to find a flower shop that had the right type of flowers for sale and all."

"Wow, uh, damn I didn't expect this," Yang in all her dates not one had ever done this for her. Maybe it was because people assumed she wasn't into 'girly' stuff as she had to admit she was a bit of a tomboy but the truth was she did at times like the more feminine stuff. She liked cute things and getting flowers brought a smile to her face. He went through a lot of trouble it seems to get just the right colors as well which put bonus points for him in her book.

"It's okay right, I mean you like them?" Jaune hopefully asked.

With a slight blush on her cheeks she smiled, "Yeah I like them."

She looked around wondering where she could place them but thankfully, Weiss came to her rescue as she gently took the flowers.

"I'll find something to put them into while you're gone," she smiled at her.

"Aw thanks Weiss-cream, I owe you one."

She gave Yang an annoyed look, "You can start by stop using that horrible nickname."

"I don't own you that much," Yang laughed as she went to the door and slipped her arm with Jaune's. "Don't wait up."

"Uncle Qrow gave you a curfew, remember it." Ruby shouted after her as Yang just lazily waved it off.

Weiss sighed as she sniffed the flowers. She unlike Yang, had gotten flowers all the time but they were usually from admirers of her singing or they were just plain roses that males had used in the past to try and get to be her suitor. These however, Jaune put in effort to make sure they were flowers that smelled nice but also had a personal touch to them.

"Maybe I should have given him a chance back in the day," she muttered.

"What was that?" Ruby asked.

"Nothing," Weiss brushed it aside. "I'm going to see if there's something in the house to put these into."

"I'll help," Ruby got off as she paused looking at Blake. "You coming?"

"I…have something I have to do, in fact I'm going out myself," Blake told her.

"Oh okay then," Ruby shrugged as she went off to catch up with Weiss.

Blake meanwhile was making sure they were gone as she quickly pulled open a drawer she was using and picked out new clothing she had gotten just for tonight.

The restaurant that Jaune had picked out seemed pretty nice to Yang. The place was nice and open with lanterns being lit as they were shown to a table by a river. There was a Minstral live band that were using acoustic instruments. Personally, Yang preferred club music or something a bit more of an edge to it but for the atmosphere of the restaurant, it was good as it filled the place with gentle music. She looked at her date and found that Jaune actually looked nice back in those clothing, if obviously nervous.

"Jaune you should take a breath, you look like you're going to have a heart attack with how nervous you are," she joked.

"Nervous? Whose nervous, not me, so sir, I'm perfectly calm, if I were anymore calm I'd be dead." He tried to say back but the wavering in his voice didn't help matters.

She gave him a look that simply said 'I'm not buying what you're selling' to him. Jaune saw it and sighed as he ran his hands over his pants feeling the sweat on his palms.

"Sorry, this is my first date and I'm just worried I might screw it up or something," he admitted.

"Well don't," Yang assured him. "Jaune if you keep being so stressed out like this you're not going to enjoy the night and I'd rather we enjoy ourselves."

"Yeah I know," He brought his head up to look at her. "Just never thought I'd be here you know? I mean here I am across the world, in a restaurant with a beautiful girl. Honestly with my luck I'm surprised I got this far."

She smiled at him calling her beautiful because she knew he meant it. She leaned forward with a hand on her cheek with a smile. "There you go calling me beautiful again, not that I get tired of hearing it, it is nice to know you find me attractive."

Jaune blushed a bit, "Well to be fair even if I were blind I would notice. You kind of bring a light with you wherever you go and shine like the sun."

Now it was her turn to blush, _'Okay wow, that's a first…kind of like it.'_

"Who knew that Jaune Arc was a poet," she smirked at him.

"Well not really," he looked around nervously.

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh? I sense a story."

"It's nothing I, well I tried poetry once in the past to get a girl to notice me…"

"Didn't go well?"

"No," He sighed looking depressed. "It was pretty bad in hindsight but still she just laughed at it when she read it."

Yang felt her jaw clench a bit before she tried to relax. Jaune was one of the nicest people she knew and hearing that kind of thing just pissed her off. He tried so hard, even if he wasn't any good at something he still tried his best. Laughing at something like that, that was just mean.

"Well she missed out because I got you know and you got me," Yang told him sitting back in her chair. "And I bet that…girl…can't hold a candle to me."

She wanted to call her something else but chose to try and be a little nicer about her choice of words. Jaune looked back at her and smiled as his warm blue eyes locked onto hers and she felt the warmth of his look. She shifted a bit as Jaune looked at her with eyes that she hadn't really seen before in a guy. It made her feel special, like she was the only girl in the world as a small warmth filled her chest.

"Yeah, you are amazing Yang, always have been." He told her.

Now she was feeling a bit nervous as she played with her hair a bit. It was a simple statement but for some reason it felt very personal to her. Thankfully, the food they ordered came as they both got to eating. Since coming to Mistral they were getting used to the chop sticks that some dishes came with, which was good as they had them now.

Jaune still had a little trouble sometimes, a piece of his meal was refusing to get picked up. Jaune was getting a bit frustrated as Yang watched the epic show down of man versus his food. He finally just gave up and stabbed the piece of meat with the stick and popped it into his mouth.

Yang laughed at the act but then heard the crack, she looked down to see her hand as crushed one of the sticks.

"Damn it," she muttered she had been using her robot hand and that was a problem with it. No sense of pressure or touch.

Jaune saw it and 'speared' another piece as he reached across to her with it. "Want one?"

Yang saw it and smiled as she leaned in and at the last moment decided to have a bit of fun. She slowly opened her mouth as she sensually took the piece in her mouth slowly sliding it off the tool. Jaune's face suddenly started going red as his mind went to a very dirty place, just as she had planned as she winked at him.

"You're going to be the death of me," Jaune finally managed to get out.

"But what a way to go right?" She licked her lips. She turned to get a waiter's attention to get a new set of chopsticks when something caught her eye. Black and yellow, but this time in the shape of hair, hair she noticed was very familiar. She managed to get a better look and her jaw dropped with what she saw.

"What is it?" Jaune looked in the direction she was looking and found it. "Whoa."

There sitting on the other side of the room were Sun and Blake. Sun actually had his shirt closed and had a tie on, although it was a bit loose as Blake had on a grey skirt and black blouse as they sat talking about something. Apparently, Neptune must have given Sun the same restaurant to go to for a date.

Yang grinned as she pulled out her scroll.

"What are you doing?" Jaune asked.

"Texting." Yang smirked.

Blake was looking over her menu when her scroll buzzed, she would have turned it off but in case something happened they were all keeping it on. After all they had an important artifact in their collection now. Blake sighed and pulled it out and saw a text from Yang.

 _ **Yang: How's the date with Sun?**_

Blake blinked, how in the hell did she, wasn't she on her own date?

 **Blake: What are you talking about?**

 **Yang: You dressed up. Him in a tie. Eating together.**

Blake stared at her scroll.

"Something wrong?" Sun asked he really hoped this place was cool. He had asked Neptune for a place that served great seafood knowing she loved it and he had told him about this place.

"Yang knows we're here." Blake still staring at her scroll.

"What? How?"

"I have no idea," Blake started texting.

 **Blake: Yang where are you?**

 **Yang: Wouldn't you like to know ;)**

 **Blake: :[**

 **Yang: Look to your left *wave***

Blake put her scroll down and looked to her left it didn't take her long before she saw Yang with her scroll giving her a small wave and judging from the way she was holding her scroll Yang was taking a picture. Not a few seconds later she got a picture file sent to her as she signed, Blake opened up the file. 

There she was looking irritated at Yang, Sun was next to her looking a little confused as the text under it simply read 'memento of your first date' with the picture. Although Blake smirked, she still had a photo of her own of them on the couch, they still didn't know about it.

Blake pulled up the image and sent it back with a smirk.

Yang found the image on her phone and when she opened it she blushed as her eyes widened. She couldn't believe it, they had actually taken the time to get a picture of them together asleep. Part of her was embarrassed but another she looked at the picture. They both looked at ease and totally natural in a way.

"Something wrong Yang?" Jaune asked.

"Just something Blake sent me," Yang made a mental note to send it to him at some point. His reaction would be priceless but she put her scroll away as she gave Blake a look. Oh, they were going to have something to talk about the next time they saw each other that much she could guarantee.

"Looks like we're not the only ones taking advantage of the time we have," Jaune commented.

"Yep, but let's focus on us now," Yang told him.

Dinner ended up being great, the meal was actually pretty good and after seeing Blake it had kind of broken the ice as Jaune felt a bit more relaxed and by the time they left the restaurant he felt more at ease. They left before Blake and Sun finished their meal so the two blondes walked into the night together.

"So what's next?" Yang asked him.

"Well I should warn you, I'm kind of old school in romance at times," Jaune led the way.

"Got that from the flowers, which were really nice by the way." She told him as she leaned into his side.

"Well I was looking up for places to go and well I thought this would be nice," Jaune had led them to what looked like a park.

Yang wasn't sure what he was getting at until she realized what he might be doing. "So, a walk in the park?"

"I-I know it's kind of lame but I figured a moonlight walk together would be, you know, nice?" He really wished he had more experience in dating the only ideas he really had were just stuff he got from movies and TV.

"Maybe, but I'm willing to give it a shot," She told him.

They walked through the park and like all of Mistral its culture showed here, Mistral had a huge respect for the land and it showed in their art, songs and how they built their cities. The park they were walking through had lights all along the pathways as they twisted and turned gently around the grass and small lakes.

The scents of nature were all around them as it was just a nice relaxing atmosphere. Both of them soon found the relaxing air was working on them, after all the craziness that had happened to them earlier and what most likely was going to happen, this felt nice to them. They didn't even say anything as they just walked down the paths holding hands the entire time.

"Okay maybe this is actually kind of nice," She decided to wrap her arm around his as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "Almost feels like we're just a normal couple."

"You mean no hunting Grimm, battling bad guys, going through life and death fights?" Jaune asked her.

"No epic craziness, no secrets missions, no trying to sneak into a whole country," Yang continued on.

Jaune paused thinking about it, "I'm not even sure what I would do with my life if I never got into Beacon to become a huntsman."

"Yeah same," Yang smiled. "Maybe I'd just get on my bike and travel."

"Sounds nice," Jaune said. "Because let me tell you, traveling on foot sucks."

Yang laughed at that.

"Hey I'm serious," Jaune pouted. "You have no idea how many blisters we got on our feet and how many days we had to go without a simple shower."

"That explains why Ruby has been taking longer with the hot showers lately," Yang said to herself.

"Oh yeah trust me, a week on the road between villages or even longer and you start to dream about things like a nice soft bed and a decent shower," Jaune told her.

They spent the red of their time just walking together and talking, they talked about little things, stupid things, just anything really. They laughed about some of the good times they had both at school and even before that. They would swap stories of their families and some of the things they got up to as kids. They got to know each other more and more as the time passed but eventually they had to get home.

Yang had a feeling that her uncle would not be kind with letting them stay out late, in fact she had been keeping an eye out for any black birds but so far she hadn't seen anything. They were about to open the front door when she stopped him and hooked her arms around the back of his neck.

"You know as first dates go, this wasn't bad."

"Really?" Jaune was happy to hear that.

"Yep, next time though I'm taking you to the club and we're dancing the night away," Yang told him.

Jaune smiled as with a bit more confidence he pulled her closer t him with his hands on her hips. "Then I guess we know what the next date will be."

"Now for the most important part," Yang pulled him down as she captured his lips with her own.

Jaune was enjoying the softness of her lips as she pressed up against him. Although Yang wasn't content with just one, with her flesh hand running through his hair she would lightly kiss him but each kiss got more and more intense. Jaune felt her tongue running along his lips as he opened his mouth and now the kissing was more intense. He took one of his hands and lightly took the side of her face with it.

Jaune felt like he was drowning in her, all he could sense was Yang. He could only feel her, smell her hair and the slight perfume she was wearing, hearing her moan into his mouth. He totally lost himself in the moment with her.

Yang pulled back with a sigh her face slightly flushed. "Damn, now that was awesome."

She licked her lips still tasting the meal Jaune had on them, so far she was actually enjoying this and she hoped that maybe this time she found a good guy, maybe the right guy but it was still too early to tell. Still, she was going to have fun figuring it out that much was she was sure of.

"Goodnight Lover Boy," Yang smiled as she walked away making sure to put just a little sway in her lips. She could almost feel Jaune's eyes going to them and she knew that those pants were giving him a good view of her ass.

' _That's how you do it Weiss,'_ Yang thought to herself.

Jaune flushed as he couldn't help but look, he pulled his eyes away feeling a bit warm as he was about to follow her in when a hand clamped down onto his shoulder. Jaune jumped and turned to see Qrow suddenly behind him. He hadn't even heard or noticed the hunter until he had placed his hand on him.

"Hey kid, mind if we chat?" Qrow seemed normal but Jaune could feel the undertone. This wasn't a request as the boy gulped and nodded.

He pulled the boy to the side of the door, as he looked him over in porch light. "Well I see Yang left her mark."

"Huh?" Jaune didn't know what he was talking about.

"A piece of advice kid," Qrow smirked crossing his arms. "When I girl kisses you with lipstick on, remember it rubs off."

It took him a split second to realize what he was talking about, Jaune wiped his mouth as he saw a red smear on the skin of his hand.

"Oh."

"Now don't worry," Qrow stated. "I'm not her father, so I'm not going to go all Tai on you. But Yang is my niece, and she and Ruby are the closest family I got. Now between me and Tai, we've seen some losers that have gone after Yang in the past."

Jaune had to feel a bit of a sting at the 'loser' comment, he had heard that enough times in his past that he nearly would flinch at times when it was brought up.

"Now I go to know you kid," Qrow continued not telling him that he had been following them on their journey quietly helping them from the shadows until he had to have intervene personally in the remains of that village. "You seem like a good kid and you helped pull my ass out of the fire when I was poisoned so I'm going to give you a fair shot."

"Uh, well thanks?"

"But don't get me wrong," Qrow looked at him seriously now. "You do anything to hurt her and all bets are off, so treat her well."

"I plan do," Jaune told him with a bit of confidence behind the words. "I know we just started out but I'm going to give it my all."

Qrow looked at him for a long silent minute before shrugging after finally seeing the boy sweat a little. "Then we got no issues."

And with that, Qrow walked back into the home leaving Jaune sighing in relief. So that was what, two family members he didn't have to worry about? Of course if he ever met Yang and Ruby's dad he wasn't sure how that would go. He had visited Ruby a few times when she was recovering and Tai seemed like a good guy.

He remembered how Yang had been holed up in that room the entire time and hadn't even come out to see him or Ren and Nora when they had visited with him that one time. He was glad she had gotten better since then.

Then there was her mother but since Yang didn't have the best relationship with her at the moment or ever from what he gathered, he didn't have to worry about that. So yeah, he just had to worry about seeing Tai the next time. Well that was a long way off, he was more worried about Qrow. That guy could be kind of scary when he wanted to be and he did swing around a giant scythe like Ruby did too.

With that he just decided to go to bed, tomorrow was another day. Another day with Yang, the thought brought a smile to his face as he entered the house.

 **TBC…**


	17. Chapter 17: Preparations

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 17: Preparations**

Yang groaned as she walked through the streets of Mistral with everyone. Her feet were killing her as Weiss was taking them to every dust store she could find to get just the right supplies for their trip that was coming up. Ruby wanted to see if she could get any new modifications to her weapon, Blake was talking to Ilia who both were just looking for simple things. Ilia was actually looking for some new clothing as she had only the White Fang suit and a couple of outfits since leaving Menagerie.

It had been a few days since her first date with Jaune and the two of them had gone out each night. Of course, by now it was also known that Blake and Sun were opening seeing each other, boy was her father not happy about it but Kali seemed to keep things peaceful.

Yang's problem at the moment, however was that her feet were killing her, she had gone out clubbing with Jaune and they had spent the night just dancing it away. She was really starting to like dancing with Jaune. He could keep up with her and even push her in dancing. The times they did the slow dancing were also very nice for her. The problem though was with all that time on her feet and all the walking today her feet was killing her.

"Come on guys do we really need to do this now?" Yang complained.

"We need to prepare," Weiss stated. "We have no idea what we're going to face and also it's best to be prepared."

"Yeah we might not be able to have the time later on," Ruby nodded and then noticed Yang's face. "Are your feet really that bad?"

"Yes!"

"You should have tried walking here," Ruby muttered remembering all those blisters and the pain she got. The bottoms of her feet nearly had a layer of touch skin on them now from the months of walking.

"Jaune told me about that," Yang nodded. "Which is why I need a break, I road my bike most of the way here sis."

"We're going to leave soon, we should get prepared," Weiss told her.

Yang groaned, "I already got everything I need, plus I already gave Bumblebee a tune-up and that's the most work I needed to do. I can't think of much else I might need, at least at the moment."

"What about rounds?" Ruby asked.

Yang shrugged, "Didn't use much, still got plenty of that but that's easy enough to get more."

"Actually now that you mention it I could use a few more rounds, maybe some special ones," Blake thought out loud. She had used most of the special dust rounds back at her parents' house after all. They had come in handy so maybe a few more might work out too.

"I'm lucky I don't use much in my weapon," Ilia shrugged. "I've always been more of a melee fighter anyway."

"Oh yeah you're weapon is so cool," Ruby grinned at the Faunus girl. "How long did it take you to get the segmentations right? It looks like it was complicated to get set up but once you did I bet it's easy enough for maintenance."

"Uh, actually you're right it took me time to get it to work right." The girl remembered making her weapon. "Took forever it seemed, every time I thought I had it, then it would extend when I didn't want it to or only parts of it did."

"Yep you can tell a lot about a person from their weapons," Ruby grinned at her.

"That's because you're a weapon fanatic," Yang rolled her eyes.

"I like weapons, so what?" Ruby asked slightly offended.

"I swear instead of playing with dolls she played with huntresses and grimm and has been looking at weapon magazines ever since she could read." Yang joked.

"Weapons are my hobby," Ruby pouted.

"We know." Weiss sighed patting her on the shoulder. "I still remember having to tell you to pick up those magazines of yours all the time."

"I got better." Ruby muttered to herself looking down.

Yang winced as she hissed out a breath. "Okay seriously I think I need to sit down somewhere."

"Do you really need a break?" Blake asked concerned.

"Yes," Yang told her as the pain in her feet was climbing up her calves to her knees now. She wasn't sure she could take a few more hours of this. She needed to sit down soon or else her feel felt like they might start bleeding on her. Not that they would but that's what it was feeling like at the moment.

"Okay Yang I think you should get back to the house," Blake told her.

"Yeah I think I need to rest up," Yang paused as everyone stopped.

Ruby looked on concerned with her sister, she really did look like she was in pain. "Yang do you need one of us to help you back?"

Yang thought about it, "Naw I think I can make it back, I don't want to get in the way of your shopping anyway."

"We can always go later," Blake started to say.

"Trust me I got this, I'm not going to collapse in the middle of the street," At least that's what Yang hoped wouldn't happen.

Not too much later Jaune was on the couch polishing his sword, he had already used a wet stone to keep the edge nice and sharp but he needed to do the usual maintenance. A small smile came to his face remembering how Pyrrha had taught him how to properly care for a sword. He looked over the blade as it looked nice and clean. That's when the door opened as he turned to see Yang almost dragging herself back inside.

"Ugh." She moaned going to a seat and just falling into it letting her body go loose.

"I thought you went out shopping with the others?" Jaune asked her.

"I did, I was," Yang stretched out her legs. "All the dancing we did last night and then going for a long walk? Not the best idea I had."

Jaune felt a bit of pity for his girlfriend, he was more used to being on his feet by this point but even still his feet still ached a bit from last night. It had been a fun night out and he really enjoyed dancing with Yang, it was nice they could bond over a shared interests like that.

Putting his weapon on the table he walked over to her. "Need anything?"

"New legs would be nice," She said.

"Well I might be able to help you out a bit." Jaune offered.

She looked at him with a cocked eyebrow at this point she was going to take anything she could get.

It was much later when the rest of the group returned, they had found some of the items they needed. Weiss carried a large metallic case she planned to fill with the selected dusk canisters she had bought that thankfully Blake was helping her by carrying the small case containing them.

"I can't believe you spent that much on a suitcase." Ruby said again.

"Ruby, it's not a suitcase it's a specially made carrying case for dust," Weiss sighed having already explained this. "Don't you remember what happened when we first met?"

"Hard to forget," Ruby grumbled.

"Well this is why I need it," She went on as they got to the stairs. "You have to be careful when you carry dust or else they could explode if not handled properly."

"She's right," Ilia stated. "I've seen what happens when someone isn't careful with dusk."

"Same." Blake commented although no one brought up how they knew. Everyone had a silent understanding that it was most likely White Fang related and they just left it at that.

As they reached their room Weiss was about to open the door when a noise was heard that none of them had expected.

"Ohhhh god yes Jaune," Yang's voice came out in a long drawn out groan that could only be described as pleasure.

They all froze in shock.

"T-they're not doing what I think they're doing right?" Weiss whispered looking at her friends who all had on looks that she guessed mirror her own.

"Can you push it in deeper?" Yang asked.

"I can try but I didn't want to push too much, it might hurt." Jaune's replay was heard.

"I'm a big girl I can take iiiiiiaahhhh!"

"Are you okay?" Jaune asked concerned.

"Oh yeah, a little to the left, oh yes that's the spot."

By now everyone in the hallway were wearing heavy blushes as their minds could only take what they were hearing one way. Weiss' mouth was agape as she couldn't believe they were doing it, in their room no less she had to sleep in that room later. Blake was shocked that Yang and Jaune were moving so fast, they had only just started dating and already at this point?

She only just worked up the nerve to date Sun and yet Yang had pushed her relationship so much further. Ruby was already covering her ears and humming to herself, she really didn't want to hear this, she wished she couldn't hear it, she wished she never heard it. She was happy her big sister and best male friend were together but she didn't need to know about their sex life!

Ilia was torn, mainly because she didn't know them that well and this was an invasion of privacy. The other was that she couldn't deny that Yang was a sexy girl and hearing her like that, well it was hard not to suddenly feel like the temperature in the hallway was getting warmer.

"Where did you learn to do this?" Yang asked.

"My dad."

Weiss looked to Blake with wide eyes and she mouthed 'his dad?' as her.

"I said it before and I'll say it again," Yang moaned out again. "You're mother must be the most happily married woman in the world, oh right there Jaune that feels amazing."

"So is this helping you feel better?"

"You have no idea," Yang sighed. "I swear Jaune you're too good at this."

"I swear if Yang made up that her feet were hurting just to…to…this, I'm not going to be happy with her," Weiss whispered.

"I'm just hoping she's using her own bed," Blake muttered, if she was using hers, she and Yang were switching beds after this.

"What the hell is going on here?"

They all jumped as they turned to see Qrow walking up to them, he was going to take a nap in his room when he noticed everyone in the hallway. The young women all shared panicked looks, especially Ruby as she didn't want Yang and Jaune to get into trouble. She opened her mouth to say something when Yang's pleasured moan hit the hallway.

Qrow stood still as he heard it, his eyes narrowed as he had heard plenty of women moan in his time and the fact that was clearly Yang made him pause.

"Oh god Jaune." Came Yang's groaning voice.

"The actual fuck," Qrow grumbled out as he stalked to the doorway.

"Oh no," Ruby looked from her angry uncle to the door trying to decide on what to do, her friends made way none of them knowing how to stop the man.

"I gave that kid a pass and this is what he does?!" Qrow threw the door open as he was about to yell when he stopped. "The hell are you two doing?" He asked confused.

That got the others to look over his shoulders and sides to see Yang on her bed with her feet bare on Jaune's lap as his hands were working on massaging them. She had taken off her leather top as Jaune was out of his armor as both blondes looked up surprised and just as confused to Qrow.

"Uh…I'm just helping out Yang with her sore feet," Jaune answered the man not sure what was going on.

"Oh thank god," Ruby sighed to herself.

Qrow looked and it certainly seemed that way, there was no way they were up to anything, the room didn't have a musky scent to it, their clothing was in too good of shape and the bed was barely touched. He sighed as he turned to leave grumbling about going to need a drink now. The others filed in as Weiss put her new case aside looking at the two of them as Jaune continued to work on Yang's feet.

"This is what were you doing?" Weiss demanded.

"Of course, what else would we be doing?" Jaune asked her confused.

Weiss' face grew red, "Uh-well-it's just that-it doesn't matter!"

Yang and Jaune gave her both the same odd look before Weiss decided it was time to go somewhere else, anywhere else and do something. The others followed suit leaving some of their purchases in the room closing the door and leaving them alone.

"Well that was strange," Jaune said.

"Par for the course for us," Yang shrugged before turning around onto her stomach. "Hey you think you can give me one of those great backrubs? My lower back could use a bit of your magic touch."

Jaune gave a small smile, "Sure thing."

He shifted position as his hands went to work on her bare lower back as he dug his thumbs into the soft flesh making his girlfriend hum in pleasure. Jaune nearly had a small laugh at the thought, his girlfriend, now that was something he was still getting used to.

Jaune worked in silence for a few minute as Yang felt her lower back muscles getting a much needed massage. Yang closed her eyes as she would groan and moan from his work. If this was the kind of thing she could look forward to by dating Jaune she just might keep him forever.

Jaune could feel some of the tense muscles slowly starting to get less tense. Then he remembered that little experimentation using his aura and put some of it into his fingers as they dug into the flesh.

Yang's head snapped up as she gasped as her whole body felt on fire. "Oh god, J-Jaune, a-are you using your aura?"

He stopped what he was doing for a moment, "Uh, yeah, shouldn't I have done that?"

Yang bit her lip trying to think of what to say.

"Yang, is something wrong?" Jaune asked concerned.

Yang sighed relaxing, "Okay I should tell you, when you put your aura into your hands and push them into my body like that well…it does something to me."

"Isn't is supposed to help with healing your muscles?"

"Yeah I'm pretty sure it does but well it does something else too."

"What?" He heard her mutter something but he didn't get it. "Sorry I didn't hear that."

"I said…I get turned on." She muttered the last part but he heard that.

"Wait-what!?" Jaune's hands left her back. "Yang! Why didn't you tell me that?"

He felt his hands suddenly leave her back and she found she missed them. She sighed as she considered her answer. "Well at first I was surprised and then I…well I was really enjoying it."

"So whenever I use my aura it just feels nice?" Jaune asked for clarification.

"I'm not sure, it only worked when you were pressing in your hands," Yang mulled it over as they were still learning about Jaune's semblance and what its full range was.

"Yang, you should have told me. What if I had done something like that to Ruby if she asked for something like a shoulder rub?"

Yang hadn't thought about that, her sister was still pretty innocent in some ways and Yang was a bit worried that Ruby wouldn't know what exactly was going on or how to handle it. She also thought about what if he did it to anyone else? "Well I think it's just skin to skin…I think."

"Great, now I'm worried about using it again," Jaune sighed.

"Okay look we just need to check okay? Just try a little, on my clothing to start."

Jaune was a bit hesitant but he needed to learn if just using it could do that, the last thing he needed was a misunderstanding between him and his friends. He placed his hand on her orange top on her back as he put a little of his aura into her.

"How's that?"

"Nice but nothing major, try pushing your hand a little?"

Jaune did so but it was still the same. The next thing they tried was her exposed skin on her sides, Jaune lightly touched the flesh with his bare hands as he used a bit of aura but nothing out of the ordinary happened. When he tried pushing his fingers into her sides Yang felt a bit of something.

"I feel a bit, huh that's strange." Yang thought about it trying to remember where his hands had been. "Try my spine."

Jaune placed his fingers on her spine and again put in some aura.

Yang sighed, "Feels nice, okay try pushing it in?"

He did so and Yang felt her world explode again. "Oh yeah that's the spot!"

Jaune quickly pulled his hands away. "Okay so it's your spine? Why does that matter?"

Yang wasn't sure, maybe they should ask someone who knew more about aura? She knew the basics but to her it was just something she had and used. She hadn't really given it much thought about how it actually worked, now she was starting to regret not paying as much attention in class as she should have been.

She thought about the sensations, "Well it seems to go through my entire nervous system so maybe when you push in your aura goes in deeper and it's traveling through my spine?"

"I guess," Jaune had no idea if she was right but it seemed like a decent idea of where to start. "So I just don't have to use that with my bare hands on someone's spine? I think I can do that."

Yang groaned, "Awww, but it felt really good."

"Yang!"

"What?" she turned over now to look at him as he shifted to her side to give her some room. "We're dating now so we can do things like this, right?"

Jaune thought about it, the first time they hadn't been, hell he hadn't even known about this but now things were different. Sure they were dating but it was a bit new to him, he also thought about what she meant by 'things', were there other things they could do?

"So me giving you these, I guess call them 'special' massages, are things we can do."

"Yep," Yang remembered that she was his first real girlfriend the poor guy most likely wasn't sure of what he could and couldn't do. Another thought hit her, she was the one getting all the pleasure out of this and it didn't seem fair to him. She also needed to help break him out of his hesitation, she had noticed at times that he was uncertain on simple things like holding her hand to when he wanted to kiss her sometimes.

Maybe he just needed a bit more confidence.

"You know there are some perks to dating," she told him.

"Yeah I'm just learning is all." He shrugged.

She looked at him as an idea on how to give him a little bit more confidence might work. "Tell you what, since I was the only one feeling good how about I return the favor?"

Jaune wasn't sure where she was going with this, "You don't have to Yang, I mean you can't even do what I do." He blushed a bit thinking about if the roles were reversed.

She smiled up at him as she stretched out on the bed, "No but I can let you cop a feel."

"Wait-what?"

"You head me Lover Boy," She looked at him with a smile on her face. "I've only let a few boys get this far with me so it's only fair. I'm letting you get a free pass to touch me anywhere on my body."

"Y-you're serious?" Jaune felt his heart race starting to climb as he looked down at her, lying there on the bed stretched out with her arms above her head just waiting for, well waiting for him to do something.

"So what will it be Jaune?" Yang said in a teasing tone. "My thighs? My butt? Or maybe…"

She looked down as Jaune did the same and Jaune felt his face heat up. Okay he had to admit all those options were very good but was he really ready to do this? A part of him really wanted to, he knew that Yang was a very beautiful woman, hell he would go as far as to say sexy, especially like she was now. A little bit of him however wasn't so sure, was this really what couples did by this point?

Seeing the hesitation Yang knew that Jaune was a bit too much of a good boy for both of their own good. So she took the initiative and took one of his hands and before he could ask what she was doing placed it right onto one of her breasts.

"Ahhhh!" Jaune cried out but with her metal hand around his wrist, he couldn't move it out of her grasp.

"There we go, just so you know Jaune, when your girlfriend is giving you a free pass, take it."

He couldn't really say much as he could feel the flesh under the clothing. Sure she still had on her top and bra but he could still feel the bountiful flesh under it. It felt full and yet had some give to it as he swallowed again.

"Go ahead and give it a squeeze." She instructed.

Jaune felt like a robot as he obeyed her command as he gave an experimental squeeze.

Yang made a small moan. "Yeah that's good just-OW! Not that hard!"

"Sorry-sorry!" Jaune pulled his hand away.

Yang gave him a small glare but sighed, "Can't be helped it was your first time but just do you know those are sensitive. Now this time I'm going to show you how to do it properly."

"Y-you are?"

"Yep, I want a boyfriend that knows me inside and out and that includes how I liked to be touched," Yang grinned at him. "Remember, I said I was a very affectionate person."

Jaune was nearly lost in a trance like state as he placed his hand back on Yang's breast, he couldn't believe this was happening. He was pretty sure there would have been a lot of guys back in Beacon jealous of him in his moment, touching something he bet so many of them wanted to touch. It did make him feel a bit better about himself knowing he would know how good she felt when they would never know.

Yang took his hand as she showed him how she liked to have his hand caress and knead the flesh. She had to admit he had a nice touch as after a few minutes she pulled him down onto her for a searing kiss. Although she felt it was too soon for anything beyond some touching, if this kept up she might have found the guy to go all the way with, when both of them were ready for that of course.

 **-Downstairs a little bit later-**

Blake was reading a book on the couch or at least trying to. Her mind kept going back to what she had heard in their room and where her mind went. Her face grew a bit red as she tried not to think about it but she couldn't help it. Despite everything in her life and how she knew it was hard for her to get closer to people, she was actually a romantic at heart. Hence, her special books, yes they might be a bit more adult in nature, but they still had romance in them.

"Get to the good part yet?" A voice asked her making her jump.

She looked over her shoulder seeing a grinning Sun leaning over her shoulder.

"Sun!? Don't scare me like that," she glared at him.

"Sorry," he nearly laughed at her expression. "You looked really involved in the book, you didn't even notice me walking up behind you, and normally I couldn't get this close without you noticing."

Blake blushed a bit, she really had been out of it as normally she was more aware of her surroundings. Being always on guard in the White Fang and her natural senses were good for that kind of thing but only when she wasn't distracted.

He jumped over the couch and landed next to her placing an arm over her shoulder smiling at her with his usual smile that only seem to be warm and inviting.

"So, good book?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah, very good," Blake honestly had no idea she had barely even started and hadn't made much progress today. She was all too aware of how close Sun was, as she couldn't help but cast a look from his face to his open shirt. Why did he have to wear that? Actually, she had a pretty good idea but still after everything that happened upstairs her mind couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like to run her hand over those abs.

"You okay?" Sun asked leaning in. "You're looking a little red, not running a fever or anything are you?"

"No! Nothing like that," Blake said quickly.

"Oh good because I was hoping that we could do something?"

"Do something?" Blake asked curious.

He scratched the back of his neck, "Yeah you know, go out and do something, just to two of us."

"If you want to go out on a date you just have to ask," she smiled.

"Yeah I know," Sun grinned at her. "I just know that we'll have to split up soon and I kind of want to spend as much time I can with you before then."

Sun really did want to spend as much time as he could with Blake, there was just something about her that he couldn't help but be drawn to. He couldn't really put it into words, although he did admit she was beautiful. From her long dark hair, her golden eyes, everything about her really. Even her cute little cat ears, which he was so glad she finally got rid of that bow.

There was also the fact that it was her personality, she was so cool, calm and collected. She wasn't like most girls and when she spoke, she always seemed to choose her words. He just said whatever was on his mind which he would admit had gotten him into trouble a few times.

Blake was just, well she was everything he wasn't and yet they still had this connection he felt. He never felt like this with another girl before and given that he wouldn't see her for a while, well he wanted every minute with her to be something he would remember.

Blake looked a bit saddened at how they wouldn't be together physically at least, for much longer. She had come to really like Sun being around her, he made her world feel slightly warmer by his presence. In fact she found it ironic that his name 'Sun' was what it felt like to have him around. He was warmth and she wanted to feel that warmth all the time.

Seeing her down he gently took a hand and brought her chin up to meet him as he slowly leaned in. "Hey, don't be like that. I've said it once and I'll say it again, we will meet again Blake. No matter how many times we get pulled apart I'll find my way back to you when you need me."

She knew that he meant those words, Sun was many things but he was always so sincere when he got serious. She looked into his kind eyes and felt herself leaning closer to him tiling her head to get closer.

"Blake are you here I-oh," Kali had walked into the room from a side room with her husband and Ilia as they stopped. Kali's hand went to her mouth in surprise but secretly she was also happy at the sight of Sun and Blake.

Ghira gave the boy a glare as he quickly made a small gap between himself and Blake.

"Oh hey there Mrs. B." Sun waved awkwardly.

"Blake," Ghira nodded at his daughter as he looked at Sun with obvious disapproval. "Boy."

Kali elbowed him in the side as he sighed and rolled his eyes before correcting himself. "Sun."

"Is something going on?" Blake wondered hoping to change the subject.

She knew what she had nearly done, she had nearly kissed Sun right there and a part of her was screaming at the timing of it all. Although the last thing she needed was for her parents to find her kissing Sun as they had walked in. She would put it aside for now but she could still feel her heart racing slightly.

Later, she told herself there is still time for that kind of stuff later.

"Well we were all talking and with Ghira making a new group and the support we've been getting. We've decided to stay in this city for a time," Kali told her.

We need the time to properly set up a new headquarters and get things moving." Ghira stated. "We're also going to have to hit every kingdom at some point to gain more support."

"So it means we won't be going back home anytime soon," Kali sighed. "Not that it matters, the repairs to all the damage to our home is going to take months."

Both Ilia and Blake immediately felt bad about that, it was their fight that had caused all the fire damage to the home, thankfully it had been stopped but at least one room was beyond saving and two adjacent rooms were in bad shape by the time they had left.

Her parents he put some of their people in charge but she knew it wouldn't be easy.

"Sounds awesome," Sun nodded his head. "I mean the whole touring the world and starting up the Unity group not the whole, fire and stuff, cause I was there and all that."

"We just wanted you to know since you're leaving for Atlas soon," Ghira told her. "With the CCT network down we can only communicate through letters so if you send any we won't get them until we arrive back home."

Blake felt bad about that, she wanted to keep in touch with her family this time. She didn't mind writing letters but it also meant that while they wouldn't get them for some time, being on the move like she was going to be, they wouldn't be able to contact her.

She should have gotten in touch with her family back at Beacon, if only to let them know she was okay and doing well.

Kali saw her daughter's face and went over and placed a loving hand on her daughter's head. "Don't worry I'm sure we'll all meet again soon. I'm just thankful we finally got to see you again and for the time we've been spending."

"I also wanted to tell you that I've decided on what to do," Ilia hesitantly spoke up looking at Blake. "I've done a lot of thinking, I thought I was doing the right thing with the White Fang but I was just so filled with anger and pain that I couldn't see where it was going until I thought it was too late to turn back."

"You helped to show me that I didn't have to go down that dark path anymore," she took a breath. "I wanted to pass that on I wanted to use my experiences to help other Faunus who are still following that way of the White Fang. To help them see that there is more than just violence, that there is another way. I feel like I need to do this, to help make up for some of the mistakes I've made."

Blake could only look at her old friend with a sense of pride seeing how far she had come. It reminded Blake so much of how she had been when she first left the White Fang. She had been lost then too and looking for a way to maybe redeem herself and her actions.

Getting up she went to her friend and hugged her.

"I'm proud of you Ilia," Blake whispered.

Ilia smiled as she hugged her back, "Thanks."

Ghira and Kali could only look on with matching smiles at the sight of the two friends.

"Yeah, this is nice." Sun nodded to himself spoiling the moment.

Blake rolled her eyes as she and Ilia pulled apart while her father gave him an irritated look.

 **TBC…**


	18. Chapter 18: A New Journey

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 18: A new Journey**

The day had finally come for everyone. They were ready to leave the city and continue on their journey to Atlas. At least that was the hope for them, they had packed up and moved out of the house and were currently at the train station. It was a large station as it was the major travel hub for the continent. It connected to all the large cities and the outlining areas of the kingdom.

It was often said that while traveling you couldn't help but either end up or pass through Mistral. It was just easier that way as the longer routes were dangerous from criminals that lived out in the wilds to the ever present danger of Grimm. It was because of those creatures that it was rare to travel alone, you traveled in groups and tended to hire at least one Huntsman or Huntress to help keep you save.

They were going by train since Argus didn't have a major civilian airport like Mistral did. That suited Jaune just fine as he was at a counter getting refreshments for everyone. Although his airsickness was better he sometimes still had issues depending on how long the travel was. He was actually looking forward to going to Argus. He hadn't seen his sister or her family in a long time. Part of him also worried because as soon as he showed up with Yang he knew his sister would be on him for all the details about his new girlfriend.

' _My girlfriend,'_ He thought with a smile as he paid for the order. _'Still sounds strange but I kind of like it now.'_

Ren was standing next to him as he was helping with getting the refreshments while they waited. They still had some time to kill after all and Yang was off making sure her bike was loaded up.

As they got their order Jaune had to pause a minute as he wanted to talk to Ren. They had a bit of walk back to where everyone was seated.

"Hey Ren, how…how does it feel now that you're with Nora?" Jaune asked.

Ren gave him a curious look as he then thought about it. "It feels strange and different and yet nothing much has changed between us. We're still the same basically only now, well…" he felt his cheeks heat up a bit remembering some of the things he had Nora did now.

He remembered their first kiss, it had been a little awkward at the start as neither of them knew what they were doing. Now though they had a pretty good idea of what to do and both of them enjoyed it. He could still picture the softness of her lips, the slight taste of sweetness on them, the scent of her hair. He could picture it all in perfect clarity and yet it still paled in comparison to the real thing. There was a warmth found in Nora that he couldn't replicate with just memory, it was something only found in the moment.

"Now it's better," Ren finished thinking about it.

Jaune smiled himself thinking of Yang, he actually felt like he was falling for the girl. She wasn't like most girls he found, most just saw the outside but the more he got to know her she more he saw about her. She was a bit more complicated than what you would think. She flirted a lot, well only for him now, she laughed, made bad puns and jokes, energetic, very physical, she was always filled with her own fire and seemed to bring with her a light to brighten up the world around her.

But there were things deeper inside, he saw the pain she tried to hide, the determination to protect those important to her even at the cost of herself. The drive to get stronger and use that strength, he saw her short tempter nature, her slight ego, all her good and bad points.

He saw the woman that she was and he liked what he saw, all the beauty, all the flaws, all of it.

"Yeah it is better." Jaune admitted nodding his head.

Ren smiled himself seeing Jaune like this he looked more at ease than he had in months. It looks like Yang was good for him in fact he had noticed that when Yang returned she had been slightly different from before. She was a bit more serious now, a little more of an edge. Everyone had noticed it but no one to his knowledge said anything. They all had changed and grown from Beacon's fall and Yang had been maimed in that attack going into a deep depression.

Yang also had been changed since she and Jaune had been hanging out more even before they became official. She had seemed to regain a bit of her old spark, that old Yang that liked to joke and have fun. Not completely, that he knew would never happen. You couldn't go back to how things were and you can't just jump back from trauma.

That was something both he and Nora knew first hand. It took them years to deal with what happened. Although he would admit, being back in the village and seeing that cursed Grimm again brought out things in him that he had thought he had buried or put behind him years ago. That fight had been something more than just revenge and putting an old ghost to rest, he felt lighter on the inside since then. Maybe part of it was it was in that fight he had realized just how much Nora meant to him.

They got back to the group with the paper trays with the drink orders. Jaune went over to Weiss as she was the first in his path.

"Here you go, your latte ma'am." He joked handing her the drink.

Weiss rolled her eyes but smirked taking it. "Thank you my good man."

Jaune had to admit his new friendship with Weiss was very nice, maybe if he had tried to be her friend at first things could have been smoother between them earlier on. Well that was the past, he had moved on from that crush and honestly he preferred her as his friend now. He gave the cocoa to Oscar.

"Thanks," He took a sip and sighed.

"Didn't know you liked that." Jaune commented.

"Well it's mostly Ozpin actually," Oscar admitted. "He gets cravings for it and I feel it too. I think he got addicted to it, which is why he drank it all the time."

"Wait he was drinking cocoa all this time?" Weiss asked turning her head as did everyone else in the group.

Oscar noticed this and felt a bit pressured with all the looks he was getting. "Uh…yeah."

"Huh, the things you learn," Nora commented scratching her head.

"And for you," Jaune gave Yang the last cup in his order as he pulled his drink out last and threw the cup holder into a bin next to them.

"What, I get served last?" Yang joked taking a sip.

"Well you know what they say right? Save the best for last?" He asked.

Yang paused before smiling, "Not bad Jaune."

"I learn from the best." He said moving a little closer to her.

Yang grinned, maybe her little lessons in helping Jaune get more confident were working. She certainly liked this new side of him that he had been showing lately. Oh he still got flustered at times and still had his adorkable moments but she liked those as well. A good balance between them was nice and she sipped her drink giving him a wink.

Jaune smiled back, "Bike's all set up?"

"Yep, she's in good hands," Yang had made sure they had stored her bike properly there was no way her baby was going to get jostled around in the train.

Jaune then noticed that three members of their group were still missing. "What about the others?"

"Qrow is off mailing a letter," Yang started to explain. "Ruby is off at a gift shop and Blake is saying goodbye to her parents."

In another part of the station, a family was doing just that as Kali was tightly squeezing her daughter as her father stood by their side.

"I'm going to miss you so much," Kali said trying to hold back tears. "We only just got together and we're leaving again."

"I know mom," Blake told her hugging her back. She would miss her parents as well and now a part of her hated that she had to leave them again so soon. "At least this time, I'm saying goodbye the right way and I will see you both again."

"You better." Kali pulled away drying her eyes taking one last longing look at her precious child.

Ghira placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder, he knew that at least this time Blake was going off on a worthy mission and she wouldn't be going alone. She would have good friends to surround her which gave him a bit of reassurance. It still was painful to see her leave again but he wouldn't stand in her way, she knew that Blake would go even if they were against it.

"We'll keep our mail being forwarded to wherever we go so just send it home and it will eventually find us," He told her gently. "We want to know how you are doing and how everything is going for you and your friends."

Blake nodded her head, "I will, this time I will stay in touch."

He could only smile proudly at her as he pulled her into his large form wrapping his only child up one last time before they saw each other again. Blake closed her eyes feeling the warmth of her father and she would miss them both so much. With final goodbyes said, they left Blake alone with the only other member Ilia.

"Blake, there's just so much I wish I could say," Ilia said fighting back the tears.

Blake smiled softly at her friend. "I know but at least we're staying as friends this time."

Ilia nodded her head and quickly gave her a hug as she felt Blake hug her back. "I'm going to miss you Blake."

"I am too but let's try to keep in touch this time okay?" Blake still felt bad about how she had left Ilia in the White Fang without saying anything to her. There just hadn't been any time when she had decided to leave on that train leaving Adam and the Fang behind her. After that, she had stayed low and off the radar because she knew Adam wouldn't have taken it well, she had been proven right on that account.

Ilia nodded, "I'll be working with your parents until I figure out a place to settle down in."

"I'm glad you'll be working with them," Blake stated.

"Same here, I think this is something I need to do."

Blake was glad that Ilia had found something to help turn her life around and possibly help others along the way. Blake looked around hoping to see one other person but so far, she hadn't seen Sun all day. A part of her was worried that he wasn't coming, after everything he had said she felt that he would be here.

"Hey there, looking for someone?" A cocky voice said behind her.

She smiled as she looked to see Sun standing there hands on his hips with a smile on his face.

"You're late." Blake told him.

"Hey I just wanting to make sure everyone else said goodbyes first." He replied.

"Actually he overslept," Neptune came around behind him. "We ran all the way here."

"Dude," Sun hissed at him.

Neptune only smirked as he left to give them some space. He noticed Ilia had the same idea as he walked over to the cute Faunus girl.

"Hey there Ilia, didn't see you there. You know, because of the camouflage?" He gave his best winning smile.

"Oh no," Blake sighed face palming. "Wrong tree Neptune."

He'll figure it out," Sun told her getting closer. "Not the first time actually."

"Given how often he hits on girls I can see that," Blake sighed. "You know that's why Weiss was giving him the cold shoulder lately right?"

Sun sighed, "Yeah I really need to talk to him at some point about it. Maybe I can get through to him on the way to Vacuo."

He paused looking at her as he was really going to miss her but she needed this. She needed to reconnect with her friends and her team. She needed it more than she needed him at any rate and he needed this too. Sun knew that he had to learn to be a better leader, to be a better person if only to feel like he was a bit more worthy of her.

Sun knew that she didn't care about things like that but he kind of did, he wanted to make sure that the next time they saw each other he would be the kind of man that could stand proudly next to her.

"So here we are," Sun stated reaching up and caressing her cheek.

She closed her eyes leaning into his hand as she suddenly pulled him into a hug burying herself in him. He held her tightly, smelling her hair, feeling her arms around him for the last time in who knew how long before they saw each other again.

"I'm really going to miss you." She nearly choked the words out.

"Hey no sad partings," Sun told her pulling her back slightly and with his thumb wiped a small tear on the side of her face. "I don't want to see you sad, not now or ever. We'll meet again Blake, I believe it and so should you."

"How can you have so much faith in that?" She really did wonder how, he kept saying how not matter what they would meet again but she had seen too much to know that happy endings don't always happen. Tragedy happened all the time and it could happen again with them.

"I believe it because I want to believe it, because I have to believe it," Sun told her. "You are unlike any girl I ever met Blake, I don't have the words to tell you how…seriously I mean I've tried and I can't get it all out or seems just right."

Blake gave a small laugh as she looked up into his eyes, this would be their last moment for a long time. He wasn't even gone yet and already she felt like she missed him. That's when it hit her she would only get one more chance at this, one last moment before they had to split up.

She was taking this moment.

Blake reached up with her hands on both sides of his face and pulled him in for a kiss. Sun was surprised by her sudden action but he soon kissed her back. His hands went under her white coat as they found her hips. Blake felt his hands on her bare skin as she kissed him deeper she wanted to remember this moment every day and night they were apart.

Sun reached around as his hands found the small of her back as she moaned feeling his fingers trail along her spine.

Blake had kissed before but never felt like this, Sun really knew how with his hands lightly trailing on sensitive areas. Then she felt something else wrap around her waist, it was thin and furry but had strength to it. She suddenly realized it was his tail wrapping around her, she nibbled on his lip taking a breath before plunging back in.

Why had she waited all this time? It felt like such a waste to only experience this once. She thought about all the times since the dance she could have done this with Sun and hadn't for one reason or another.

Eventually they pulled away out of breath and flushed as Sun looked down at her reddened face.

"Wow…that was…wow." Sun gulped as he was very tempted to join her on her adventure if this meant he could get more of that. He never knew that Blake had this passionate side to her, she always seemed so controlled and maybe even a little reserved at times but that kiss. That was most likely the best kiss he had ever had.

"Yeah," Blake breathed as she rested her head against his chest. "Sorry I, I really don't know what came over me there."

"Hey you won't catch me complaining." He said as he gently ran a hand through her long dark hair. For a moment, they just stood there embraced before he had to say it. "You're going to miss your train if we continue on like this."

"I know but, let me just stay here for just a little bit longer please?" Blake wanted one moment of selfishness.

Sun wrapped her up in his arms, "Sure thing."

Back with most of the group, they were waiting for everyone to get back and relaxing as much as they could. Yang was sitting with Jaune with his arm around her shoulder as they were enjoying each other's company. Behind them on the seats, Ren and Nora had a similar ideas as Yang and Jaune as Weiss was currently double checking to make sure she hadn't missed anything. She already had but she wanted to make absolutely sure something wasn't missing.

Oscar was on the opposite end waiting patiently, he had never been to Argus before, in fact he hadn't really been anywhere until Ozpin showed up in his head. The battle at Haven had been scary but it wasn't as scary as he thought it would be. Maybe it was Ozpin's influence or maybe he was slowly getting used to it, he wasn't sure.

He wondered what else he would see on the way to Atlas.

Ruby suddenly showed up as she had zipped into view from her semblance with the most adorable smile on her face holding something behind her back.

Yang grinned as she got up and went over to her sister existed. "Well?"

"Ta-da! Ruby pulled out a bag that had the train station gift shop logo on it.

Weiss rolled her eyes, "Why of all the things to waste-"

Yang cut her off, "What did you get me?"

"You'll have to wait and see," Ruby teased.

"Hey no fair!" Yang said trying to see if she could see inside the bag.

Jaune couldn't help but smile, the scene reminded him of the many times he and his sisters would act just the same way. Weiss also looked on, she didn't want to admit it but sometimes she rather envied the relationship Ruby and Yang had. She loved her older sister Winter but her older sister was very proper and didn't like to joke around like her two teammates were doing.

"Oh I can't wait to see Argus," Nora was nearly bouncing her in seat. "The northern sea side, oh you think we'll make it for beach season?"

Ren thought about it and time at a beach would be fun, they hadn't really done something like that themselves but the idea died when he realized the weather. It was moving into winter now and the upper areas of this continent would be much too cold.

"I don't think so Nora." He told her.

"Awww," Nora deflated a little. "I was thinking of getting this cute little pink swimsuit too."

Now that brought another thought to Ren's mind thinking of his girlfriend in a pink two-piece bathing suit. He felt himself heat up at the mental image and quickly pulled out all his mental control to stop. Now was not the time and place no matter how nice it would be.

Yang grinned at the mention of swimsuits, "Oh now that would have been fun Nora. So what do you think Jaune?"

"Think about what?" He asked confused.

"Swimsuits," Yang struck a pose for him. "What do you think would look better on me? A yellow one piece or two piece? Maybe a string bikini?"

"Uh…well…I uh…" Jaune's face started to redden as the images flashed into his mind. He also thought back to that hotel room when he had seen her in just her underwear as her telling him just to think of it was being in a swimsuit.

Yang could only grin even more at the sight of him. Sure, they were together now but it was still so much fun to tease him now and again. At any rate, she made sure to make up for any teasing later when they were alone.

"Well while this is all fun I still can't believe I have to go back to Atlas given everything I went through just to leave that place," Weiss huffed. She still felt anxious about going back, she knew that her father would try anything to force her back into that manor and this time make sure she was locked up tight in her room, most likely with guards.

Even when she was at Beacon she had still considered Atlas her home, even if it had not been the most friendly and loving environment. However, after leaving she had trouble seeing Atlas as her home anymore. She only really saw it as the place she had grown up in, only a couple of people there had really been a family to her.

Ruby saw her partner's worry even under Weiss' tightly controlled features. "Don't worry Weiss, I promise you that Team RWBY will always be by your side. We won't leave you alone and you can count on us."

Weiss did smile at that, she did feel better she was going back with her friends and teammates.

"Oh you shouldn't have to worry about anything with us around," A confident male voice said.

Everyone looked to see two approaching figures. They wore clothing that looked designed for combat for quick movement and to not to weigh them down. Both had dark brown hair, the one with lighter skin tone was carrying a silver mace with spikes on it. His partner with a darker skin tone and a soul patch on his chin was carrying a rifle of some kind.

"And you two are…." Nora trailed off at them.

"Why Dee and Dudley," The same one with the club spoke up. "The Argus Limited very own huntsman. We're the ones that will be defending you all during the travels through Grimm territory."

"But for a special fee," Dudley stepped in with a smile. "We can ensure that you all get extra special attention." He winked at them.

Ruby and Yang's shoulders slumped at this blatantly and somewhat pathetic attempt to seem charming and get the girls' attention. Did they seriously not pick up that they were all huntsman and huntresses in training? Did they miss the robotic combat arm on Yang or that fact that Ruby had bullets showing on her belt?

"Yeah I think we got this covered." Yang stated.

"Oh don't be like that," Dudley grinned at her. "It takes a real man to fight off all the Grimm out there."

"Real man huh?" Yang looked around. "So where are they?"

That got a few snickers from the group but before one of them could give a retort Yang walked over to Jaune and sat down on his lap hooking her arms around his neck.

"What do you say babe? Cause the only real man I see are you and Ren, hell even Oscar. No offence little guy." Yang stated to him.

"None taken," Oscar knew what Yang was doing and besides he was only fourteen not exactly a 'man' by any means.

"Yep," Nora smiled as she followed Yang's example and did the same with Ren. "The only man for me is Ren and I've seen him take on plenty of Grimm."

Both of the hired huntsmen hadn't expected at least two of the girls to apparently already have boyfriends. Taking a look they didn't see much in Ren but Jaune was wearing heavy armor not the kind of thing a civilian just wears.

Maybe they could try their luck with the white haired beauty with the scar and the one in red?

Before they could try anything else that was when Qrow showed up with his hands in his pockets. He had seen what was going on he had seen this kind of thing before with young huntsmen. They got high off their position and tried to pick up girls with it. Of course Qrow was no stranger to that either but at least he tried to put some class into it and he knew better than to hit on girls that obviously could take care of themselves.

"Here's a tip for you guys, buzz of." He got in front of them with his usual lazy pose eying them up. They didn't look like much, hell if he had to guess they had most likely graduated this year or last year tops. "It looks like Mistral's scrapping the bottom of the barrel if they hired you two chuckleheads."

"Hey," Dee said offended. "Do you know that you're talking to-"

"A professional huntsman," Qrow pulled out his ID showing them that they were not going to pull that card with him. "Well it looks like one you 'heroes' left the staff entrance to the caboose wide open. Hate to see you guys lose your job right off the bat like this."

Both looked over to see that he was telling the truth, they were supposed to secure each entrance on the train to help prevent stowaways. Both looked at each other before Dudley tried to defend himself that he hadn't done it. Dee in an irritated manner decided to cut their losses here and walk off bringing his partner with him.

Qrow wasn't sure if they had left that open but when he saw it he had used it to help defuse the situation. Sometimes words were much more useful in moments like this than threats or violence plus it was a lot more fun this way too. It was why he liked messing with the Ice Queen so much, Winter's buttons were just so easy to push and it made his day to make miss prim and proper loser her cool.

He might have actually like the woman if she just removed that stick up her ass in his opinion. He did respect her skills but man she needed to let her hair down, or get laid, maybe both.

He turned to everyone else. "So we're all set?"

"Yep, my bike is locked and loaded." Yang stated.

"We got all our stuff that we're not carrying on the train." Ruby said next.

"We're just waiting on Blake." Weiss commented.

They didn't have to wait long as Blake found them at their platform. She had already left her parents, Ilia and Sun behind and already, she missed them. Seeing her friends waving at her did help to cheer her up a bit. Maybe Sun was right about needing to be here. Their time after the battle had helped but she still felt a bit of a gap between them all, especially with herself.

She couldn't blame them, especially not Yang. When Yang had been at her darkest moment, she had run away, again. She had run all the way back home she was tired of running away from her problems. Looking at them all now, she never wanted to lose this, this group of friends, which had become like a second family to her.

"Hey, what did I miss?" Blake asked joining them.

"Ugh," Ruby said exasperated. "We ran into these two guys that were trying to hit on us by being huntsmen."

"Really?" Blake looked around at the nods. She was glad she missed out on that at least.

' _Now boarding Train Number 3 for Argus'_ an announcement said over the PA system.

"Well that's us," Qrow stated as everyone got their carryon luggage ready and got up to leave the benches.

"Do you want some help?" Ruby asked Weiss who has a few carryon bags, including the case for her sword.

"Please," Weiss took her weapon case and the luggage with the wheels as Ruby took the smaller bag with her free hand.

"Did you really have to pack so much?" Yang asked.

"I like to be prepared is all," Weiss told her walking on.

"Well here we go," Oscar said mainly to himself. "A new adventure."

' _ **One of many I'm sure,'**_ Ozpin said to him.

' _I just hope I can pull my own weight,'_ Oscar said back. Although he had been training he was still far from anywhere on their levels. He just didn't want to be a burden to them.

' _ **All things come with time Oscar,'**_ Ozpin assured him. _ **'Remember you are not alone, you are part of a team and as you look out for them, they will look out for you. It was one of the principles I wanted to instill in my students.'**_

' _Alright then…let's do this,'_ Oscar mentally prepared himself as he got onto the train.

 **TBC…**

 **There's kind of an irony with this chapter as I posted it on the date I'm leaving for the UK for a week on a business trip. Can't promise any updates during that time, not even sure if I'll get time to use my laptop to write but I'll see what I can do.**


	19. Chapter 19: Splitting the Party

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter19: Splitting the Party**

The train had left the station and everyone was enjoying the trip. They had managed to get rooms on the train that were fairly close to each other. Team RWBY of course had their own, JPR had a room with an extra bed while Qrow and Oscar/Ozpin were in a double for themselves. Qrow had gone to get a drink while Oscar was just sitting by a window watching the world go by.

It was somewhat relaxing to watch the countryside go by, the snow had started to come in now an hour into their trip north. They were going up a mountain track as they made their way to Argus. It was strange, not too long ago he would have been on his aunt's farm and would be helping out around the farm before school started up.

A part of him missed his home and his aunt it had taken him forever to think of what to put into a letter for her. He had mailed it before he left on the train but still, he couldn't tell her everything he just hoped that what he did tell her she would one day understand.

Still it was somewhat nice just watching the world go by as it was as if he wasn't one some very important and dangerous mission to help save the world.

' _Yeah…no pressure there,'_ He sighed. He was thankful at least he was with a group that knew what they were doing but also nice to a new comer like him. He knew that they all had gone through a lot and he kind of wished he had that kind of bond. He still felt like a bit of an outsider and it wasn't a good feeling.

Living with your aunt on a farm you didn't get the chance to make many friends. Most of those he only saw when school was going on in the village. He wondered what they would think when he suddenly didn't show up for the first day. Maybe it was odd to think about little things like this but in this moment he felt it was the first time in weeks he had the chance to really think on things.

While Oscar was reflecting on his life, Jaune, Nora and Ren were in their own room just relaxing.

Jaune was on his scroll just going through it, he was pretty sure his sister's information was accurate but he wouldn't know until they got closer to the city for his scroll to pick up the local network. If the CCT network was still up and running he would have been able to call from Mistral but until they could get Beacon fixed the world was cut off from each other.

A part of him was starting to wonder if this had been part of the plan, to cut off the world. It would make it easier to attack the other schools and try to either gain access to the other artifacts or at least hold them until the right maiden could be found. It made a tactical kind of sense to him but he frowned at it all. It just spoke of a ruthlessness he never really understood, to cut off the entire world would send panic all over the place.

Cities would end up being fortified to fend off the surge in Grimm from all the negative emotions and all the villages that couldn't defend themselves, well he only had to think of the last two he had seen. The desolation of two whole villages were not happy memories and to think of more villages out there most likely already facing or had faced the same outcome was depressing.

Jaune thumbed his scroll over to the picture section he needed something to take his mind off these kinds of thoughts. He found what he was looking for and a small smile grew on his face. It was a selfie of him and Yang on one of their dates. He felt his mood lift seeing the smiling face of Yang on his scroll, he could just go over and see her but he didn't want to smother her. It was a long trip and they would see each other soon over dinner with everyone else.

He cast a look to see that Nora had bounced onto Ren both of them on the lower bunk across from him as she grinned down at him playfully. It made Jaune feel good seeing them like that, he always did think that there had been something going on with them, they had just seemed too close for there not to be.

Going back to his scroll when a violent shake rattled the entire train. For a moment no one said anything, maybe it was normal? Neither of them had been on a train like this before and they were in the mountains.

When people started to panic outside that's when Jaune knew it wasn't normal.

"Weapons!" He shouted out as Ren and Nora quickly got up and got their own weapons ready.

Jaune led his team outside seeing people running and panicking. His first thought was to meet up with the others and then figure out what was going on. He ran into the next car to see Oscar looking out a window as he ran into the young boy.

"What's going on?" He asked hoping to get a clue but then he could hear it. The sounds of gun fire and soon followed was the scream of a Grimm outside. "Never mind I think I know."

"What do we do?" Oscar asked him.

He looked down at the boy with a serious look. "What we train to do. You want to sit this one out?"

Oscar would be lying it a part of him wanted to sit this out but that wasn't him. He had been training all this time with them so he wouldn't be a burden to them all, so that he could help fight. His heart was racing and he could feel some sweat already forming but he gripped the weapon at his side.

Looking up at Jaune with conviction, he said. "No, I'm going."

Jaune had to smile, Oscar reminded him a little of himself when he first started out at Beacon. "Good, stay close and remember that we're a team."

"Right," he followed behind them as they ran to between the cars to get up on the roof.

"You can do this," Oscar whispered to himself.

' _ **Yes you can, I'll be here if you need me but remember they are also here for you too.'**_ Ozpin's voice told him.

Jaune could hear the telltale sounds of Ruby's sniper rifle firing now, what must be Blake's gun and of course, he knew Yang's shotgun blasts anywhere. Weiss' weapon wasn't as loud but he thought he heard something that might have been it. He got to the roof to see that they were under attack by a group of flying Grimm and one large one.

"Oh man what are those?" Jaune really wished he had paid a bit more attention in the Grimm Studies class.

"The smaller ones are Manticores," Ren told him. "I believe the larger one is a Sphinx."

"Thanks," Jaune saw one of the Manticores flying at him. "Ren, wings!"

Ren took aim and fired his weapons as he aimed for the creatures wings, he was able to damage it that it lost control of its flight. That's what Jaune needed as he put his training to use he sidestepped it, spun around and with his sword cut its belly open. It roared once in pain as it slowly vanished into the black ash that all Grimm turned into.

"Hey welcome to the party!" Yang said punching one of the creatures.

"Well someone forgot to send us an invite so we decided to just crash it," Jaune got his shield up to deflect the claws of one of the Manticores that flew by and tried to slash at him.

"Well you're more than welcome," Ruby told them firing several rounds they aimed true slamming into the heads of each Manticore. The problem was for every one they killed more just seemed to take their place.

"How many of these things are there?" Nora asked over the wind as she fired several grenades into the air. She was trying to act as a type of anti-air defense for the moment since shooting her grenades too low might hit the train.

Before anyone could say, anything the train seemed to transform as armored sections emerged covering windows and weak spots along the train. The top had turrets come out of small domes as they fired on the Grimm with some kind of auto-targeting feature.

"Well that's helpful," Nora, grinned she only had a limited supply of grenades to help keep them at a distance.

"Damn it," Qrow cursed.

"What's wrong?" Blake asked firing at one of the Grimm that flew by.

"Those damn turrets are just going to draw the Grimm right to the people, we need to turn them off!"

"I got it!" Oscar shouted as Jaune watched the young man rush off.

He couldn't afford to keep his eye on him much longer as he had to duck to avoid getting grabbed by one of the Grimm.

The others were doing just fine, even if they were outnumbered. Yang jumped up letting the train go forward as she 'rushed' towards one of the Manticores letting the train basically bring the Grimm to her as she punched it with her weapon, firing it at the same time.

It flew back as Roby swept in and sliced it in two, Yang turned to face the next one. She saw Weiss fending off one of them as another was going to her blind backside. She noticed that Blake saw it two as the two shared a look and moved forward without a word. She leaped forward as she turned, just in time to catch Blake's weapon that had been thrown at her.

Gripping Gambol Shroud in its gun form, she used the momentum of her movement to twist herself and basically throw Blake who held the other end. Blake sailed through the sky and buried the cleaver/sheath half of her weapon into the back of the neck of the creature going for Weiss.

Yang had to admit this was their first major fight since they all got back together and it felt good, it felt natural. She was a bit worried that there might be a little loss in teamwork or cohesion but there didn't seem to be any. It was like the past months hadn't happened as they worked together, not even needed to call out to the other for help.

They knew how each other fought, they knew each other's strengths and weaknesses and they would almost on instinct work together to combine them or cover for them. Yang had to admit, it felt good, really good in fact.

If the situation wasn't so dangerous for all the people below, she might have laughed during the fighting.

She did notice that Jaune, Nora and Ren were fighting just as well, in fact they seemed better than what she remembered back in Beacon. Although she couldn't help but notice the absence of one of their members, despite this Jaune seemed to be doing well to compensate.

Yang hadn't really thought before how much of a leader Jaune was as she had only ever really seen Ruby take the lead. She couldn't focus too much but she could notice how Jaune took charge of his teammates and helped when he could.

Standing there with the wind blowing around him, his sword swinging around and giving orders, Yang was surprised by something.

He was kind of hot in that moment.

A large piece of ice flew by Yang and impaled into a Grimm that she hadn't noticed. Yang's eyes widened as she looked to see a slightly annoyed Weiss looking at her. The girl didn't have to say anything as her look simply said 'get your head back in the game'.

Yang nodded her head as she mentally chided herself for getting distracted. She would mentally keep that image in her head but for later. Now she had to help and kill all these damn Grimm.

Jaune looked around, the guns were still firing but the number of Grimm didn't seem to be going down anytime soon. They could only fight them off for so long and it wouldn't take long before one of them decided to try and tear into the train. If that happened they could detail the entire thing.

"Tunnel!" Oscar's warning came and Jaune looked to see they were heading right for a tunnel as his eyes widened. There wasn't much time and if they didn't get to safety…

"Everyone back inside," Jaune shouted as they made their ways to the closest sections they could to get to safety. Jaune jumped down as he opened the door and looked back. He saw Ren and Nora jump down next and Blake and Yang were after them.

"Where's Ruby, Weiss, Oscar and Qrow?" Jaune asked looking around as the darkness of the tunnel enveloped the train.

"I saw Oscar and Qrow already safe," Yang commented and looked to Blake as she had been last to jump down.

"I'm pretty sure Ruby went to help Weiss down," Blake answered as she had last seen Ruby use her semblance going for Weiss.

When went forward to where the passengers were and quickly found their entire team. It made Jaune feel a bit better seeing everyone there but the one hunter looked badly hurt in the arm as he and Qrow were yelling at each other. Jaune couldn't understand all of it, he thought he heard something about the guns on top of the train.

Jaune wasn't sure what to do at this point, the guns were helping to keep them alive on top but there were people here that needed to be protected. If the guns were putting the passengers in danger, they should turn them off but it would only make things more difficult for them fighting the Grimm.

It was a hard position to be in and he could hear how frightened the people were, that was another problem. All the fear would just draw in the Grimm and might even bring more to the train in the area.

Then before anyone knew it Ruby came forward and softly asked him to turn them off. Jaune went up next, Ruby had the right idea shouting at each other wouldn't solve anything.

"Trust us, we know what we're doing," He gently said to the man as he used his semblance to help heal the damage to his arm. It looked like it might have been broken internally so he hoped this would work. He hadn't helped a body to fix a broken bone yet. He still wasn't sure just what the limits to the 'healing' aspect to his ability were. As far as he guessed as long as it was something aura could heal, he could help it along.

The man seemed to consider things before finally giving in pulling out his scroll to deactivate the weapons.

"Fine," he said as the fight went out of him.

Nora suddenly had an idea as she looked to Ren. "Hey you think you can use your semblance to hide all of us? With the guns gone and all the emotions hidden they might lose track of us."

Ren considered her words, they did have merit but there was just one problem. "It might work but I've never tried that before with so many people with something this large."

"What if you had a boost?" Jaune offered.

Ren nodded. "It might work."

"Yes with your aura amplified it might just work," Weiss nodded liking the plan so far.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Qrow grinned glad something was going right.

As they were talking, Ozpin knew that there was one problem. One that would make this plan fail, as he took control of Oscar for the moment and walked into the center of the group. He had hoped that this part wouldn't have been a problem, that the train would get to their destination before the issue came up. He should have warned them that the relics attracted the Grimm.

That was another reason why they were hidden away the vaults shielded whatever property it was that kept the Grimm from sensing them. He never figured out why they did, only that there was a range he had to worry about with them. It was why he wanted them to travel by train, it was much quicker and if they were on foot, the Grimm would have been on them the entire way.

"There is on small complication," Ozpin admitted as he gestured to the relic. "I don't know the reason but the relics attract the Grimm."

"What's that?" Dudley the Huntsman asked looking at the item in Oscar's possession.

"Never mind that," Qrow simply told him looking a little hurt at Ozpin. "Oz are you serious?"

"Why didn't you tell us this?" Yang demanded she thought that there would be no more secrets and yet here was a damn secret, again. Was this the reason the train was attacked? She was really starting to hate all the surprises and secrets that came out to bite them in the ass.

"I…" Ozpin tried to search for the reason but even he wasn't sure why. He was so used to keeping secrets, keeping people at arm's length that it had become a habit over the centuries. Too many times he had taken someone in confidence only to be betrayed. Too many times people died because of what they knew, of the secrets he told them.

His mind flashed to young Pyrrha, her death weighed on his soul as countless others did. He had so much hope for her, that she could have been someone to help the next generation in this long and bloody war. But it all ended as it always did, in death.

"It doesn't matter," Ruby stepped forward she could see the tension and yes she wished he had told them but they could deal with that later. They had a bigger issue to deal with now and people to save and they came first.

"The longer we're on this train the more we're putting people here in danger," Ruby explained and looked to Ren. "If you move all the passengers to the front and mask them and kill the turrets. We just can't come with you, we'll stay behind and detach the other cars and fight off the Grimm while you get away."

Jaune heard this plan and he felt a sliver of ice enter his heart as he looked at them. He knew that he would have to stay behind since he was needed to help Ren mask everyone. He looked at his friends and then his eyes landed on Yang and for a brief moment, he was back in that locker at Beacon banging on the door as Pyrrha sent him away.

He closed his eyes and shook his head clearing his mind. He checked to see if he was done with the healing. The arm looked good so he stopped using his semblance as he walked over to Ruby. He looked down at his friend, she always seemed to brave these days and knew exactly what to do. He looked up to her in moments like these, she made being a leader so easy at times but he still hated this.

He hated how this had to happen and once again, he was powerless to do anything about it. He just had to have hope that she and the others would be okay.

"Only if you promise me you'll make it to Argus." He told her.

Ruby smiled up at him, "I promise."

Jaune could see there was no doubt in her eyes he wondered how she did that all he felt was doubt sometimes. He nodded to her as he looked over to see Yang he had to say something to her before they left as the others started to file past him.

Jaune went over to Yang looking into her eyes. "Please make it back."

She flashed him a small smile, "You got it."

"I'm serious Yang," He said softly.

She looked into his eyes and saw the worry in them. He wanted to come with them but knew he couldn't. He looked so pained in his big blue eyes and she didn't like to see him like this. She gently took his face in her hands as she gave him a soft but loving kiss. "Promise, just like Ruby said, we're all coming back you make sure to get these people safe and wait for us in Argus."

"Promise," He said his thumb caressing her cheek looking longingly into her eyes.

"Come on you love birds we got to go," Qrow told them as they parted.

Jaune sighed as he steeled himself before he turned to Nora and Ren. "Come on we got our own job to do."

The two nodded as the three of them started to move passengers to as far front of the train as possible. Although Jaune was going to be boosting Ren's ability, they could only push things so far. They needed to get everyone as close together as possible for this to work.

They did their best to get people along as they could hear the sounds of fighting on the roof. Jaune looked up now and then wishing he was up there to help but the people came first. He waved people along and he was a bit surprised not one person argued or questioned anything they were doing.

Perhaps it was just how sure they seemed no one else knew what to do or was telling them anything after all.

After everyone was sent to the front cars, his team got onto the roof. By this point Jaune saw Team RWBY and the others fending off the Grimm. Nora pulled out her scroll, as she would let them know when to start. Ren and Jaune stood together waiting for the signal.

"Ruby says now!" Nora cried out.

Ren knelt down and placed his hand on the roof as he felt Jaune's aura flowing into him. This was the first time they had tried something like this and feeling it. It was as if his own aura flow was a river and suddenly a dam had burst up stream flooding said river. He looked up as he focused his semblance forward, he could feel it wrap around the train and everyone there.

It was difficult and if it wasn't for the aura from Jaune, there was no way he could do this, he was sure of it. He felt the train jerk, as it seemed to pick up a little more speed.

"Jaune?" He asked, as he didn't dare look he needed his concentration for this.

"They're away," He told him as Jaune closed his eyes and hoped they would be fine. He just focused on the task, using his semblance to help Ren's. They would keep it up until the Grimm were no longer a threat. He had no idea how long he had been there, he just concentrated on the task at hand trying to push all other thoughts away.

He didn't feel the cold air around him, he wasn't thinking about Ruby and the others or the people under their protection, he wasn't even thinking of the Grimm. He just let his mind go blank and focused on putting his aura into Ren.

Ren for his part was doing the same he could feel the strain on his body now. He had no idea how long he had been at it but there were no Grimm so far. They had to be sure, with only the three of them they didn't have the numbers to fight off a large group.

"Guys, I think we're good." Nora told them. She had been looking out for anymore Grimm but so far, nothing. She looked at her scroll to see that the others were well out of range. Not only that but she checked the time, the boys had been at it for five minutes and given how fast the train went they had to be far enough away now.

Ren let go of his semblance as Jaune did the same, Ren suddenly felt tired as his own aura pool had to be pretty low at this point. He could feel his sweat starting to freeze in the open air he hadn't even known he was sweating until now.

Jaune looked back the way they had come the train had taken a turn here and there so there was no sign of his friends. With a heavy heart he turned away, he had to have hope because it was the only thing he had at the moment.

"Come on let's see how everyone inside is doing," Jaune told them as he moved to the edge of the car. Ren and Nora gave a silent look of worry to each other before silently following him.

 **TBC…**

 **Well here we go, next chapter will be more focused on Jaune and what happened after they got to Argus. Also please leave a review, there was a drop in them with the last chapter and it makes me think I either was doing something wrong and turned people off or it wasn't that good. The chapter was a little shorter than I would have liked but I think I'll make up for it with the next one.**


	20. Chapter 20: Argus City

**Big thanks for everyone that left a review last chapter it really helped to keep me motivated and inspired to try and get this next chapter out sooner than I expected.**

 **Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 20: Argus City**

The next few hours were the longest for Jaune, he tried to keep busy in that time. He would go around making sure everyone was okay, if any of the civilians needed anything, if anyone was hurt. Some people had some bruises from all the chaos that he went to help with his semblance. He just kept going around, making sure people were comfortable or needed anything.

Most people just assumed he was a nice person and he was, he would have been doing this same thing on any other day. It was just that if he kept busy then he wouldn't have worry. He hated not knowing what was going on with Ruby and the others but he chose to focus on just pushing forward. He needed to keep going because if he didn't he knew he would just be racked with worry and the people here needed people to keep them calm and safe.

Jaune had no idea how much time passed, it was all a blur to him as he went from person to person just checking in on things.

" _We are arriving at Argus Station."_ An announcement was then heard from the PA system. It seemed like a collective sigh of relief hit the passengers then. They now knew they were going to be safe in the city as the whole mood of the train relaxed.

Jaune felt a bit of it too, if only because he could get off the train. He was starting to feel confined in the train. He didn't notice it at first but the longer he was in here the more the walls seemed to feel like they were pressing in on him.

The train finally passed through a secure tunnel in the massive wall of the city as the train went dark for a moment before light entered through the windows. They all felt the train slowing down as it came to a stop. Looking out the window Jaune could already see the local security forces waiting for them. Whoever was running the train must of called the authorities as soon as they were in range of the city to let them know.

He could see police units on the platform along with paramedics. The area behind them looked to be sealed off which made sense. As soon as they stopped those outside rushed forward as they got to the exits and helped to usher people out to what looked like a safe zone made not too far from the train. Jaune could see people being led to an area with benches and military cots already set up, as they were made comfortable.

They would be looking there for some time Jaune felt, they would have to get everyone's statements and check to see if anyone needed any medical treatment before they could leave.

"So, what now?" Nora asked as the passengers were slowly making their way off the train or it looked like to grab what they could before they left.

That might be a good idea he figured, he didn't want to be on the train anymore and he didn't want to come back for their stuff.

He wondered if Ruby and her team's cart were still attached as well.

"We should get our stuff and see if we can get the others as well." Jaune told them.

"Good idea," Ren didn't want to leave anything behind, and it might prove difficult to get their friends bags after they left the train, as they would have to have proof of their luggage. They made their way to their cart passing people on the way.

They were a bit surprised to find some of the civilians they passed thanking them for what they did. It made Jaune feel a bit better to know that what they did helped saved lives. He never really wanted to become a huntsman for fame but it did feel nice having people thank them.

They got their bags and Jaune led the way to the other rooms. Thankfully, when they had split the train the other rooms hadn't gone with the others. Most likely, the ones lost were the ones carrying the extra baggage and anything being shipped.

"You guys check on Qrow and Oscar's room first, I'll get team RWBY's." He told them as he hefted his own bag on his shoulder. They were going to have to take a lot of stuff with them. Thankfully, they had Nora in their group.

As he entered the room, he grabbed Ruby's fist placing the strap over his other shoulder. He reached for the next one to find Yang's bag in his hand. He stopped moving thinking about her, was she okay, were they going to make it to Argus on foot? That relic drew in Grimm so it wouldn't be easy but they were closer to this city than they were to Mistral.

He knew that Ruby and the others were together they weren't alone fighting without help. He knew that in his head but this whole situation was too similar to what happened at Beacon. Once again, he was pushed away while others went on to face danger without him.

His grip tightened on the strap of Yang's bag as he felt his breathing increase. The room felt small, smaller than it actually was. It felt like the walls were closing in on him as he thought about being stuck here. He couldn't leave and the others were out there fighting and maybe even…dying.

With his semblance, he could help anyone that got hurt but he wasn't with them.

The room felt stuffier now, warmer and the air nearly tasted stale on his lips. His hand was shaking with the bag in it as he couldn't help but see them now. They were fighting alone on the mountain surrounded by Grimm.

Jaune started to breathe even faster now, he felt trapped and confined in the small room. He needed to get out. He had to get out now. His heart rate was racing as he gripped Yang's bag tight and rushed out the door. He ran through the halls, he didn't even notice running by Ren and Nora, he didn't notice them talking to him.

He needed to get out, he felt hot and sweat was forming, as he needed to get out in the open. He found an exit and rushed out. The sunlight hit him as he slowed and stopped by a notice board near the tracks. He dropped the bags as he leaned his head against the cool glass as he noticed his breathing was out of control.

"They're fine, they'll be fine, they have everyone, they're not alone, and they'll be fine." He whispered to himself.

"Jaune!" Nora shouted coming up to him with Ren right behind her. They both were carrying all their bags as they dropped them.

Both of them had worried looks on their faces, they had never seen Jaune like this. They had noticed Jaune having a hard time dealing with Pyrrha's death, some days were better than others but they had never seen him this bad before. Lately they were thinking that he was getting better especially after he and Yang started dating. He had seemed a bit more like his older self but seeing him now, they were seriously worried.

"S-sorry I, I just needed to get out of there." He sighed resting against the signpost.

"Jaune," Ren started to say walking a little closer. "What was that? We've never seen you like this before and we're worried."

Jaune was silent before answering. "I don't know, I just don't know. I…I'm just so worried about them and…I don't know. I felt like I was in a vise."

"We're worried too," Nora told him. "But we're also worried about you."

"Sorry," Jaune honestly said to them seeing the looks in their eyes. He hated that he was causing them trouble. He was about to say more when a person in a uniform was coming up to them. All three took in the appearance of what looked like a law officer. At least he looked similar in uniform and the badge he was wearing was an obvious sign.

"Excuse me are you three the young Huntsmen and Huntress that the passengers were talking about?" The officer looked to be in his mid twenties as he had a notepad in his hands looking over whatever he had written down.

"Yes but we're still students," Jaune explained to him.

"Can I get your names please?" He asked politely as they did as he asked. He then started asking all kinds of questions. Mainly why they were on the train, what happened the whole story. They did their best to answer although Nora kept embellishing the story, which was clearing starting to irritate the officer as he was trying to get the facts for the report on this incident.

Ren came up with the story that they were on their way here to visit Jaune's family, remembering that his sister lived in the city with their friends before classes started up again. Jaune ran with it even giving his sister's name and contact info. The officer seemed to accept it as they went on, then they got to the point about how their friends had to stay behind as they stayed to protect the civilians.

They had to explain how they did what they did as the man wrote it all down. Although he looked a little hesitant about the next part when he spoke up.

"Sorry to hear about your friends." He offered.

There was a confused pause before Jaune felt anger starting to swell up in him as he realized what he was saying. "They're not dead."

That got Nora and Ren on the same page as they too looked at the officer with slight glares.

"Look I'm sorry but they're miles away with Grimm kid," He tried to gently break it to them. He had seen denial before and it was never easy to deal with.

"There's no way they would let themselves get taken out but those Grimm," Nora defended.

"You said that they were students with only one active Huntsman correct?" The officer asked and went on seeing their nods. "There was a full Huntsman on the train and he was a fatality as well."

Jaune didn't like that the officer was lumping his friends in with that guy. That Huntsman didn't seem like much even to Jaune. Of course, he didn't want to think ill of the dead either so he kept his mouth shut on that part. He knew that the man's partner might be taking it hard, losing a partner was never easy after all.

"Are you at least going to sent out a team or at least a plane to rescue them?" Ren said trying to get some information about it. That helped perk the other members of his team up.

The officer looked hesitant again, "We don't have any aircraft here to send in Argus."

"What?" Jaune felt a sick feeling in his stomach.

The officer started to explain. "You see most come here by train or boat there isn't enough room for an airport. The only place we do have one here is with the Atlas military station on the bay and we can't order them to send out a plane for your friends. I'm sorry."

"Can't you at least ask?" Jaune pleaded.

He shook his head, "Maybe if there was a different base commander but the current one, well you can try and ask them for help but you won't get it. They do protect the city from Grimm but anything else it's outside their standing orders and the woman in charge from what I hear is stubborn about keeping to her orders."

"I'm sorry kid, I really do and I hope they're still alive but it's a long walk here and we don't have the means to go looking for them at the moment. The best we can do is hope Mistral realizes the train is late and sends out a train with a full team to help clear the way. It happens sometimes when they have to clear or fix the tracks from Grimm attacks. Normally we would have just called them in the past but with the network down…"

Jaune didn't listen anymore, it was just like he thought earlier about the network. All the cities were starting to get isolated from each other.

The rest of what the officer asked was more mundane and also repeating a few other questions to get more details. Jaune was thankful when it was all over and so did Ren and Nora at the end of it all. Still the fact that no help could be sent out for Ruby and the others twisted Jaune's stomach in a knot. He had hoped that the city could send something out there and in a few hours they would be all together again.

Now he didn't know what to do, other than wait for them to show up.

He checked his scroll but none of them was within range, he knew it wasn't likely they would get this close to fast but it was the only thing he could do. Keep an eye out and hope that they would make it to the city soon.

"So now what?" Nora asked looking around as people were starting to leave the area.

"I guess I should call my sister," Jaune told them finding her contact info and calling her on his scroll. He wasn't sure what he was going to say to her although it would be nice to hear her voice again. Saphron was the eldest of his siblings and she looked out for them all. She always could make things seem better and always there to help.

"Hello?" The familiar voice said on the other line.

"Hey Saph? It's me, Jaune."

"Jaune!? Oh my god how are you I haven't heard from you since-wait...Jaune are you in the city?"

"Yeah me and two of my friends we just got in."

"Just got in, I don't remember any ships coming in to port, wait. You weren't on that train that was on the news were you?"

"It's on the news?"

"Oh my god you were! Jaune are you okay? Please tell me you're not calling from the hospital." The worry in her voice carried over from the call.

"No-no I'm not, we're at the station and we're okay," He wanted to say that 'most of us' were but that was something to talk about in person.

"I'll me right down there, I'm so glad that you guys are okay. The train attack has been on the news for the past twenty minutes, Jaune, there are reports of casualties." Her voice trailed off softly at that part.

Jaune sighed, "It was one of the Huntsmen guarding the train that's all I know."

"Okay, I'll see you soon Jaune."

"I'll see you too sis," He hung up the call. It did feel good to hear her voice again and he wanted to see her as well. He still felt like a wreck, he was starting to feel tired not only physically but emotionally but there was still plenty left in the day to do.

"So we get to finally meet one of your famous siblings," Nora grinned as they exited the train station. They chose to wait by the entrance to make it easier for Saphron to find them.

"Famous?" Jaune asked confused.

"Well yeah, not many people can claim to have seven siblings," Nora smiled she had heard some of the stories back when they all shared a room at Beacon. Nora actually liked to hear the stories because as an orphan she wondered what it would be like to have grown up in a family, especially a large one like Jaune's.

"Be that as it may," Ren started. "It will be nice to meet a part of your family."

Jaune smiled at his friends glad that they were still with him. An hour passed before he heard his sister call out to him.

"Jaune!"

The three of them looked to see a woman a few years older than them. She had long blonde hair the same shade as Jaune's although she did seem to be carrying a toddler with a dark complexion with her.

"Saph!" Jaune waved over to her as the made her way over to them. As she got closer, Ren and Nora could see the family resemblance between the two of them. She gave him a half hug so as not to crush her son, as she looked her baby brother up and down.

"I think you got a bit bigger last time I saw you and look at you." She smiled taking in his appearance the armor and clothing really did make him look like a huntsman now. When she had heard that he had gone off to Beacon she hated to admit it but like the rest of the family she was worried for Jaune. Although the family supported him, he hadn't really had the chance to train for it. There had been no combat schools to train in back home and the only other one was miles away, too far for him to join.

However, here he was and looking him over she couldn't help but look for any injuries. "You're not hurt or anything are you?"

"No, I'm fine not even a scratch." He assured her.

"Yeah we kicked those Grimm's butts!" Nora said proudly with her hands on her hips.

Saphron looked at the two others and smiled. "Now let me see if I remember this right. You're Nora and you would be Ren?"

"I take it Jaune talked about us," Ren stated with a nod of his head.

"Oh my baby brother always talked about his team," Saphron smiled looking at a slightly embarrassed Jaune. "Honestly every time he called home he would talk about you three…"

Her smile faded as she remembered the last bit of news as she looked to Jaune, he had lost his partner in The Fall and looking at him now, she could see the pain in his eyes. She also couldn't help but notice that her little brother didn't look as innocent as he used to. There was a slight hardness to him now and a part of her was sad to see it in him.

Jaune tried to change the subject as he looked down at Adrian. "Hey little guy, you've gotten a lot bigger last time I saw you."

Saphron took the chance to change the subject knowing what he was doing. "Of course you only saw him when he was a new born. Adrian this is your uncle Jaune."

The toddler looked up at him for a moment before giggling something and reaching up to him. Jaune poked out his finger as the young boy took it playing with it.

"You didn't tell us you were an uncle!" Nora grinned at him.

"Well…I guess it never came up?" Jaune shrugged at them.

Nora leaned down to the boy who looked curiously up at her. "Hello there little guy, aren't you the cutest little boy, yes you are."

Saphron smiled as Adrian giggled as Nora played with him. She had to admit in her eyes her son was the best child in the world, yes she knew she was biased but she didn't care.

"Well come on, you can tell me all about everything on the way to my place." Saphron told them. They were all grateful to finally leave the train station. She led them to the streetcar that stopped in the area. It was the easiest way of getting around the city they found. There were tight roads and not many personal vehicles like there was in Vale. The smaller size of the city made public transportation a bit better for its size.

The city seemed to be built on a hill between two large hills making natural barriers for most Grimm as they wouldn't be able to climb down (at least not easily) leaving only the walled entrance and the sea to the city's back. All the buildings tended to be slim, pushed up against each other and on average about three stories tall. It was all very compact and made use of the limited space of the city for the populations. The few gaps were small alleys between the buildings.

Yet even with the tight architecture, there was a beauty to the place. The buildings all had very decorative designs to them. Even though there was hardly any natural nature in the city, the roads were lined with trees keeping with the Mistral culture of working with and respecting nature.

All in all Jaune thought the city looked very nice and he could see why his big sister liked living here.

Saphron would point out little things about the city to them, the things that tourist like to see when they came, also the things she felt they would need to know such as good places to eat, buy items, little things that only a person living in the area would know. They took the streetcar to their next stop as they got off. It was a short walk to a pleasant looking three story building as Saphron let them in.

"Ohhh, nice place." Nora looked around.

Saphron laughed a little, "Thanks we take pride in our home. Come on I'll show you three to your rooms."

"Wait you have enough space for all of us?" Nora asked.

"With my family it was kind of needed," Saphron grinned at them as when her family came to visit they still struggled to find a place for everyone sometimes. "Thank god Terra has a government job, they pay is great given I'm a full time house wife and mother."

"Wait…Terra?" Nora asked confused at the name. "Isn't that a girl's name?"

Jaune face palmed, he forgot to mention the slightly unique nature of his sister's family life here and Nora was the one person on their team that had no tact.

Saphron had an amused look on her face, "That might be because she's my wife."

"Oh, wait." Nora looked to Aiden and had on a thinking look on his face. "But then, how did the two of you…"

"That's what sperm banks are for," Saphron had to hold back some laughter. The girl was just a bit too innocent and the embarrassed looks of the boys was almost too much.

"Oh okay! That makes a lot more sense now," Nora would have scratched the back of her head if her arms weren't burdened with all the bags she was carrying. They put the bags away as they all went to the living room to relax.

Saphron put Adrian on the floor to play with some toys. "Hey can you guys put those weapons in the closet by the door? I don't mind them in the house but I really don't want Adrian near them."

"Of course," Ren nodded pulling out his weapons.

"Good idea," Nora did the same as the two of them put them in the closet door. Jaune was last as his two friends gone to look after Adrian. Jaune pulled the sword and scabbard off his wait as Saphron got her first good look at it.

"Wait Jaune," Saphron placed a hand on his wrist looking at it. "Did you get a new sword? Mom told me you took Crocea Mors."

"Oh it is," Jaune showed her by expanding the shield function.

Saphron's eyes widened. "Jaune what did you do to the family weapon?"

"Uh, well I kind of, well I had it remade?" Jaune shrunk down a bit. He hadn't even thought of what the rest of his family would think of it. It had been in his family for generations after all and he did this without telling them. It wasn't really 'his' as he technically stole it when he left. Of course none of his siblings wanted it so his parents let him have it.

From her earliest memories, she could remember seeing that blade, of her father taking care of it, of it sitting in a place of honor in the living room on the wall of their home. Looking at it now though it looked so different, it looked like it had been given a rebirth.

"It looks amazing Jaune," Saphron said as her hand ran over the family crest on the shield. Even the shield had something done to it with the gold trim it had now.

"Thanks, I was kind of worried there," Jaune's shoulders sagged as he blew out a sigh of relief.

"Can I?" She asked as he nodded and handed her the sword.

Although she wasn't a warrior, she could feel the balance of the blade. She had held it a few times growing up but it never felt 'right' in her hand like the sword was waiting for someone, the right someone, to take it up. Running her hand over the pummel at the new design and how the blade seemed to shine, she could see how Jaune took care of the weapon.

"You know little brother I think this isn't the family's sword anymore," she looked at him as she proudly handed it back to him. "This is yours now."

"Yeah but it's still part of the family legacy isn't it?" Jaune asked her.

"Yes but now it's part of your legacy," She hugged him. "I think Great-great-grandfather would be proud of what you've done with it."

"R-really?"

She nodded. "Yeah, you're not the same little boy I remember and that's kind of sad but looking at you now I can see that you'll make a great Huntsman. I'm proud of you little brother."

Jaune felt his eyes sting as he looked away and quickly seethed the sword and put it away in the closet. He didn't want her to see it but it was the first time ever that someone in his family actually thought he could do this and that they were proud of him. He had always been just kind of average his whole life, nothing to stand out from his siblings other than being the one male in the group.

He always felt like he was living in everyone's shadow growing up. All his sisters excelled in something or another and yet he never found his footing until he managed to get into Beacon.

So hearing this from his big sister really touched him. He took a moment before facing her again.

"Thanks sis." He honestly said.

She smiled at him, "Hey what are big sister's for?"

Jaune smiled but it only reminded him soon after of another big sister he knew. He really hoped Yang and the others were okay. Saphron went to the living room as Jaune paused to check his scroll. Still no contact yet for any of them on it. He closed his eyes and took a breath before putting it away. He would keep checking and he hoped they would soon get within range.

As everyone was enjoying themselves in the living room, Saphron went to the kitchen to start on dinner as she left Adrian in their care.

It was later when the front door opened up as Terra walked in, the dark skinned woman had short dark hair and glasses as she sighed glade to be home. "Honey, I'm home."

She pauses as she got into the living room seeing that they had guest although they seemed a bit young to be friends of Saphron's. There was a tall dark haired boy sitting with a girl with short hair playing with her son on the ground. The last was…Jaune!?

"Jaune is that you?" Terra said happy to see her brother-in-law as she went to hug him. He returned it as she had to admit he had looked a little bigger than the last time she had seen him.

"Hey Terra, sorry for dropping in like this but it's kind of a long story." He explained.

"Well we can fill her in," Saphron said from the kitchen as she came in and kissed her wife on the cheek. She saw the tired look in her eyes and saw that her wife must have had another one of 'those days' again today. "Rough day?"

"You have no idea," Terra sighed again going to pick up her son and hug him close as she nearly collapsed onto the couch. "I swear if we didn't need the money I'm tempted to quit some days."

Saphron stood behind her as she gently caressed her wife's hair. "Well you're home now and dinner will be ready soon. I think we're going to have a lot of catching up to do tonight."

 **TBC…**


	21. Chapter 21: Seperation Anxiety

**Big thanks for everyone that left a review last chapter it really helped to keep me motivated and inspired to try and get this next chapter out sooner than I expected. I would have had this done last week but I had to move to a new place, thankfully that is all out of the way now.  
**

 **Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 21: Separation Anxiety**

It was starting to get a bit late in the city but Jaune felt that they had to at least try.

"You sure this will work?" Nora asked.

"We have to try if only for them." Jaune told her.

"Maybe we'll be able to reason with them." Ren hoped.

Jaune nodded as the three of them were on the edge of the city. They could smell the sea air and a slight cold wind coming off the water. This area was open and not any residential areas in the area. It was mostly docks, warehouses a few fishing ships in the distance could be seen from where they were.

After dinner, they wanted to get to the Atlas facility as quickly as possible and with luck, Terra worked there. Well she worked as a civilian consultant for their telecommunications system which was linked to the civilian one. They got the directions for the quickest route after they explained why they wanted to try and get Atlas to send an airship out to look for their friends.

Terra warned them that the woman in charge most likely wouldn't do it but still, they had to try.

Jaune wouldn't be able to sleep tonight if he didn't try something, anything to help them while he waited for them. He again checked his scroll just in case and quickly put it away. He couldn't stop himself from checking, he was hoping that one of these times they would just be there on his scroll.

As they walked down the long metal pathway to the Atlas base, they could see the front gate of the facility. To the left he could see rows of Atlas airships, the smaller ones used to carry a squad of people on what he could guess was a landing pad area. As they got to the front, they could see two men in Atlas uniforms standing there.

"Is it just me or do they look pretty similar?" Nora asked quietly as they got closer.

"Twins?" Ren offered with a shrug, which Nora mirrored.

"Halt! No civilians are allowed past this point!" One of them spoke up in a crisp parade voice at them.

"Yeah, uh…hello?" Jaune really wished he had thought more about what to say on the way here. "Look we were on the train that was attacked, you might have heard about it?"

They gave no sign that they had even heard him as they stood like statues.

"Okay, well our friends got left behind, we were hoping that Atlas would help out by sending out aircraft to the area to look to see if they were okay." Jaune asked.

"We do not have authority to launch Atlas military on the request of civilians, please leave the area."

"But our friends are in danger out there!" Nora yelled at them.

"We do not have-"

"Then how about you get someone that does!" Nora yelled at them, as Ren had to hold her back slightly.

"Please is there someone we can talk to?" Jaune pleaded with them. "We're just trying to see if we can get help for them, isn't Atlas supposed to protect people?"

"Sir, if you keep this up we're going to force you to move away from the gate."

"Oh yeah?" Nora challenged as both Ren and Jaune got a bad feeling, as Nora looked ready to make a grab for her weapon. They couldn't start a fight out here and they needed to get some help for their friends.

"Sir, ma'am you three have been warned and we'll warn you that this site is off limits to non-Atlas personnel." With that, they both took a step back and one of them pressed something on the other side of the wall when suddenly a gate closed in front of them quickly with a loud clang sound.

"What!?" Nora couldn't believe that they shut the metaphorical door in their face with an actual gate. "Hey we're not done here!"

"Nora calm down," Ren urged her placing a hand on her shoulder.

"But Ruby and the others need help Ren," She looked at him with pleading eyes. "Even if they dealt with all the Grimm they're still far from the city out in the cold. It's going to be dark soon and it's going to get a lot colder."

"We will Nora," Jaune spoke up looking around the gate and saw a camera at them. "I don't know if you can hear us but we're not leaving until we talk to someone about sending out an aircraft for our friends."

"Yeah we'll stay here all night," Nora grinned. "Hey how about we sing something to pass the time? I know 99 bottles of beer or how about the song that never ends?"

"Yeah we're not going anywhere so we might as well," Jaune could get behind this idea.

Nora started with 99 bottles of beer, as loudly as she could and it wasn't she got down to fifty-three when someone finally came out to see them.

"What is going on out here?" Demanded a female voice as the gate suddenly opened. Before them were the same two guards again but between them was a very short and elderly woman with short cut white hair looking angrily at the three of them.

"Are you in charge here ma'am?" Jaune asked.

"I am Caroline Cordovin the commander of his facility and I demand to know what you three are doing causing a disturbance on my base." She said angrily.

"Please we're just trying to get help for our friends who were left behind on the train, you know the one that was attack this morning?" Jaune pleaded.

"I know about that but it's a waste of resources," she said coldly. "You're friends are most likely dead."

"Like hell they are," Nora challenged her.

"They are miles away, with Grimm after them and lost in the snow," Caroline told them sternly. "I am responsible for the safety of this city, Atlas has taken it upon itself to protect these people and ensure their safety. This is my primary mission and I won't jeopardize valuable Atlas resources for a fool's errand."

"Please can't you just send one ship?" Jaune asked her. "One ship to check the area where the train was last seen?"

The old woman looked at him with a scowl. "Are you insane boy? You can't sent just one ship, there were Grimm attacking a whole pack of them. Sending one ship is suicide. No, I would have to send a full squadron to not only search but also to keep each of the flyers covered."

"Well isn't it your job to protect people?" Jaune asked her.

"My job is to protect this city and the citizens, are your friends even citizens of this city?" Cordovin asked as Jaune stayed silent. "I thought as much. Now I've already wasted enough time on you lot, so I want you all to leave my base this instant!"

"Oh come on, we're asking for help and you just tell us to take a hike? What the hell kind of Atlas people are you?" Nora challenged.

"I will not be talked to in that manner from some child," Cordovin angrily snapped at her visibly fuming at the accusation. "Now you get behind that line or else I will have you arrested for trespassing on Atlas property."

She pointed to a section behind them that was marked off. Apparently, it was supposed to tell civilians not to cross.

"Just try it you old-" Nora started but Ren quickly got behind her and quickly wrapped an arm around her waist and the other over her mouth. He could see the guards behind the old woman stiffening and looked ready to come forward.

Being arrested would help no one and they couldn't afford the trouble at the moment.

"We're terribly sorry, we'll go now." He dragged Nora back who flailed wildly trying angrily to yell out stuff behind his hand that he was sure would only get them into more trouble.

Jaune paused to look at the woman trying to think of something, anything that he could say that would convince her to help them but he wasn't coming up with anything.

"I'm waiting boy," she sternly told him pointing at the line.

Jaune clenched his fist but held his tongue as it wouldn't do any good now. He walked off to join his friends.

"And don't let me catch any of you on Atlas property again!" The woman shouted at Jaune's back.

 **-Arc-Cotta Household -**

The front door to the house opened as Terra was sitting on the couch drinking some tea seeing them come in. She was about to ask them how it went but seeing their expressions she knew it hadn't gone over well.

They put their weapons away in the closet as they silently came into the living room. Ren and Nora sat on the couch together as Jaune sat in a chair all his own. All three of them had on various dark expressions.

"That bad?" Terra asked.

"That woman is the most infuriating person I've ever met!" Nora threw up her arms finally letting out her anger.

"Cordovin?" Terra asked but she felt she had a feeling she was correct. She unfortunately had to deal with that woman a few times because of her work as a civilian worker for Atlas in charge of their communications. The woman never listened and wouldn't change her mind once she made it up, she refused to admit when she was wrong and wanted everything done her way.

She was the most infuriating person she had to deal with and every day she had to made Terra consider just finding a new job if she could get one that paid the same.

"Seriously I thought Glynda was a hard ass but at least she was fair and understanding," Nora continued to rant.

Terra looked to Jaune who was too quiet he sat there with a dark expression on his face his arms crossed. "Jaune?"

He was silent a moment before getting up and heading to the stairs.

"Jaune?" Terra asked again.

He paused his hand on the banister, "I'm tired, I think I'm going to bed."

Jaune slowly walked up the stairs his feet feeling heavy, everything felt heavy as the others silently looked at him. He felt like he failed his friends, the one thing he could do to help them and he failed and that hurt worst than anything else. He got to the second floor making his way to his room. He could hear his sister in Adrian's room. Most likely putting his nephew to bed but he didn't want to see her, he didn't want to see anyone at the moment.

The room was small with a single bed, dresser and closet. Apparently, it was originally one room but Terra and Saphron turned one room into two by having a wall split down the middle, made a new door to help give more beds. Again, one of the things you had to do when you were from a large family and could get visitors.

Pulling off his armor, he sat on his bed running his hands through his hair and sighed.

 **-Later-**

It was later as Jaune walked through what looked like endless darkness. He couldn't see anything around him, he wasn't even sure what he was standing on. It was nothing around him an endless abyss that he couldn't tell how far he was going.

He had no idea how long he just walking in the darkness.

"Jaune," a hauntingly familiar voice called out to him from behind.

Jaune turned to see Pyrrha standing there looking like just like she had that final day he had seen her. "Pyrrha!"

He tried to rush over to her but his feet were getting stuck. He looked down to see them sinking into the darkness like it was mud. He forced himself to try harder to move until a scream made his head snap up as he looked on in horror.

Pyrrha was sinking into the blackness as dark clawed hands were grabbing at her, pulling her down as she tried to fight them off.

"Jaune!" She reached out to him as he struggled to get closer to her.

"Pyrrha! I'm coming just hold on!"

"Help me Jaune!" She cried out as she was down to her waist now.

"I'm coming, I'm coming just stay with me!" He yelled at her as his feet had sunk to his shins and was only getting harder and harder to get to her. He reached out with his hand as she sunk lower and lower. She was at her neck looking at him with frightened eyes.

He called out to her over and over again but every step only got harder.

"Jau-" her voice was cut off as her head sunk below the darkness only her hand was left as it too was sinking.

"No! Not again, I'm not losing you again!" He struggled to reach for her hand but just as he was about to reach it, her hand went under the black surface. Jaune screamed out and he tried to reach into the darkness. Maybe he could pull her out, maybe this time he could save her.

"Jaune!" Another familiar voice called out.

He turned his head to see Yang running up to him. "Yang, help!"

"I'm coming just hang on," she called back to him, but to Jaune's horror she seemed to trip.

"Ow, what the hell was-AHH!" Yang screamed as she too started to sink into the darkness.

"No, no-no-no-no-no-no. Not you too, I can't lose you too," Jaune whispered to himself seeing Yang being pulled into the darkness. She was fighting it as best she could, trying to pull her arms free with her strength but no matter what she tried, she couldn't get them free.

Jaune looked back to the spot where Pyrrha had been and then looked to Yang. He was torn he had to try and save Pyrrha but he couldn't let Yang get pulled in either. He reached out trying to get to her but it just seemed like he was stuck in place no matter what he tried.

"Jaune, I, I can't get out!" Yang felt her legs being pulled under a she sunk to her waist her arms trapped. She disengaged her arm as the metal arm was quickly pulled under her into the black abyss. She looked at Jaune with frightened eyes.

"Yang just hang on, I'll, I'll think of something just hang on," He tried to move but it was like his feet were stuck in a solid mass. He pounded his fist against the dark surface but all he felt was a solid ground that had no give to it.

"Jaune!"

He looked up to see that Yang was now sinking faster as she was struggling as best she could with just her stump as she was quickly sinking. She was at her waist and then her chest and her head was the last thing Jaune saw before she disappeared into the darkness.

He could only scream out in anguish at losing someone else.

Jaune suddenly woke up covered in sweat as he jolted up in his bed, he could feel his heart beating in his chest and in his ears. He looked around as he suddenly remembered where he was, taking a few deep breaths he started to slow down his heart rate. After a few moments, he got up and picked up his scroll, it was nearly midnight and he had only been asleep for a few hours.

The problem was there was no way he was going to sleep again. He needed to do something he needed to get out of the small room as he went into the dark hallway. As silently as he could he went downstairs to the living room. Sitting on the couch, he turned on a lamp as he just sat on the couch trying to calm himself.

He just sat there in the silence wishing he would stop worrying but he couldn't help it. He hated not knowing how the others were doing, how far away they were. Looking out to the glass doors leading into the backyard he hoped they had found a place to stay for the night. It was cold and he didn't like the idea of them trying to sleep out in the elements.

He pulled out his scroll and checked to see if they were within range, maybe they hadn't stopped and just kept going? They weren't there again and he sighed.

Looking at his scroll again, he pulled up the pictures on it. He needed something to take his mind off things, something to help him remember the better times. He still had images from their time at Beacon as he smiled seeing them. His team whole as all four of them were there, if he remembered Ruby took the picture and sent it to them. They were all so happy back then. Swiping through the images, he eventually got to the more current ones.

Jaune paused to smile at the image of him and Yang sleeping on the couch. Blake had sent it to Yang who had sent it to him. They looked so comfortable right there, as if nothing in the world could bother them. He got to the next one, which was a selfie of the two of them together.

Yang had her arm around the back of his neck as they were pressed up side by side for the photo. Both were smiling into the camera, this was one of their dates before they left on the train.

"So whose the girl?"

"Ah!" Jaune jumped nearly dropping his scroll as he caught it and looked to see his sister in her sleepwear behind him.

"Saph!"

"Shhhh!" She then said in a quiet voice. "Don't wake everyone else up."

"Oh, sorry. What are you doing up?"

"Well I was asleep until someone walking in the halls woke me up," Saphron smiled as she came around to sit with him.

"Sorry, I couldn't sleep."

"Still worried for your friends?"

"Yeah, I just wish I knew how they were doing. I just…I just hate not being able to help them." He didn't say how it made him feel so powerless to do anything. He hated that feeling, of being helpless. He had felt like that, for most of his life and it was only recently he started to feel like he wasn't so helpless after all. At least before all this with the train happened.

Saphron could see how much her little brother was having a hard time. She wished she could fully understand what he went through. She knew some of it from his friends but there was a lot that was being left unsaid. She knew that being a Huntsman was his dream but it also seemed to have caused him a lot of hardships. Saphron just wanted to hold him like when he was little when he had a nightmare.

She decided to try and change the subject as she looked at his scroll again. "So you never said who she was, you two look close."

"Oh," Jaune blushed at the image of him and Yang. "That's Yang she's on team RWBY, in fact she's the big sister for the team leader Ruby. She's also, well, she's my girlfriend."

Saphron's face lit up as she reached over and pinched his cheeks. "Oh that's so adorable. My baby brother finally got his first girlfriend."

"Saph," he knocked her hands away from his face.

"Sorry but you never had one and well, I think some of us were wondering if you were like me and liked the same sex but was too shy to say anything."

"I'm not Saph, I just, well I never had any real luck with girls," Jaune sighed his back resting against the cushions. "Yang, well she's amazing, always has been. She's so strong and I always admired that, plus she's not afraid of being herself or letting others know what she thinks and feels."

"She cares a lot about those around her she's just so free all the time." He smiled thinking back to the happier moments. Although he knew that, it was a struggle for her to get back to this point in her life. She still had doubts and still was scared at times but she keeps pushing herself despite all that.

He admired that kind of strength.

Saphron smiled as Jaune talked about this girl, he sounded like she did when she talked about her wife like that. "Sounds like you really like this girl."

Jaune blushed a bit as he thought about it. He and Yang weren't dating for long a few weeks but he also had known her since he had gone to Beacon as well. They had been friends for the longest time before things between them had grown and changed into what it was now.

Thinking it over he really did like Yang, he liked her a lot.

"Yeah I do." He admitted to her.

"Well then I can't wait to meet her," She told him gently rubbing one of his shoulders. "If you believe that they're still out there and coming here then I'll believe it with you."

"Thanks sis," he told her feeling a bit better that she believed that as well. He just hoped that she could meet Yang and the rest. He wondered what she and the others were doing.

 **-Elsewhere-**

Yang tried to sleep on the floor of the main house they were staying in. Well maybe squatting in was a more accurate word. After their train car had derailed, they had found that some old woman by the name of Maria had for some reason been on it. The old woman was short with tanned skin with a strange walking stick with a skull of all things on it. The mechanical eyes were different, more bulky than what she expected they should be, they looked old too. Maybe that was why, she must have gotten them a long time ago for them to look like that.

At least to Yang they did, she figured that Atlas by this point would have perfected artificial eyes to look more like regular ones so hers had to have happened a long time ago given how bulky they looked. Flexing her own artificial hand, she started to wonder how she would look at that age with her arm. Would she still have this arm or replace it along the way?

Well she didn't really care, mainly because everything had changed.

Ruby had found the stupid artifact and when 'Ozpin' had been acting up Oscar had fought back that he was hiding something. Ruby had called out the name Jinn everything had just stopped, the falling snow had stopped, all sound had stopped and some giant naked like green woman just floated there.

Apparently, the artifact was one of four and hers was about knowledge so Ruby had asked what Ozpin was hiding. A part of Yang wished she didn't know that she hadn't learned what she had learned. The history of the world had been shown to them, Ozpin and Salem's origins, the fact that humanity was on its second try after the gods (which were real! That's something she was starting to try to come to terms with) had destroyed humanity once before because of Salem.

Then when they needed answers from Ozpin he had ran off to the back of Oscar's mind so deep that even Oscar couldn't feel him. Yang cast a look over to the boy, he was asleep and Yang felt bad for him. He never asked for any of this, to have to carry all of this crap on his shoulders and yet because of some kind of random chance his whole life was now messed up forever.

Yang sighed and looked to see Blake sleeping and quickly looked away. She could still remember those words Blake said to them in the barn.

' _I'll protect you.'_

Yang felt her jaw clench at that. She didn't want to be protected she didn't need to be protected. She wasn't a broken mess anymore, sure, she still had issues but she was here, she was moving past them. What she wanted, what she needed was a partner, someone to stand next to her not in front of her.

With an angry sigh, she looked around and her eyes rested on Weiss. The poor girl was finally asleep she really wished she had been the one to find the first bodies and not her. Poor Weiss was shook up ever since, not that Yang could blame the girl. Looking around the homes it was all the same, dead bodies in beds.

The worst was when she had found a kid's room she had only looked long enough to know the body in that small bed wasn't moving and quickly closed the door. It was why they were all on the ground floor, they didn't want to be anywhere near those bodies. It's not as if they could move them, well they could but why would you? It's not like they could bury them properly either, it was the winter and the ground would be too solid to dig. Throwing them in the snow just seemed heartless since come the thaw they would be exposed and eaten up by whatever animals happen upon them.

In the end she just felt tired.

Tired of all the fighting, tired of feeling broken, tired of this whole mess. They were now stuck in a war with a huge target on their backs with that stupid relic and the worst thing was, they had no idea how to win. Salem can't be killed to now what? Just try forever to keep her from winning? A damn stalemate for eternity?

It all just sucked in her opinion.

She shifted on the ground trying to get comfortable, it was strange she felt so tired and yet she couldn't sleep. God she felt tired, just so tired of everything.

She wanted this all to be over with, for them to just get on with their lives. They should all be in Beacon now in their second year going to classes and having fun. Maybe even seeing if she could set up Ruby with a first year if only she could focus on things other than her weapons, she should be going out, having fun, and enjoying her youth.

Instead, here she was, missing an arm, everyone stuck for the night in a blizzard inside of a house filled with corpses upstairs, carrying a relic from the actual gods, and finding out that the gods and afterlife are real, oh and the oldest being in the world that controlled the Grimm was targeting them all.

Things had changed a lot in just two years.

Maybe it was all of this was why she felt so tired. She just wanted all this to be done with.

Turning to her side she, wished Jaune at least were here with her. Her mind went back to that morning she woke up in the hotel room with him. How at ease she felt, how warm his body felt against her own. Then there was that time on the couch they fell asleep together and it was one of the most well rested sleeps she had in a long time.

' _He must be worried sick,'_ Yang thought with a frown. _'I hope he's doing okay.'_

 **TBC…**


	22. Chapter 22: Reunion

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 22: Reunion**

There were moments in Yang's life recently where she had dealt with fear. In fact, her life lately had seemed to be dominated by it to the point she shut herself away from the world. She had struggled to get this far, sometimes it felt like every day was a struggle. What she was feeling now, what she was experiencing now she could honestly say, she was never more terrified in her entire life.

Things had seemed to be going, well not exactly okay in the morning. They all felt so tired and they had tried to convince Ruby to just throw the damn Relic away. Ozpin was hiding in the back of Oscar's mind, Qrow was crawling into a bottle even more than she could remember, it all just seemed like the best thing to just get rid of the huge target and move on.

They couldn't win, they couldn't defeat Salem and so what was the point? They all were dragged into this war, they didn't choose to be a part of it at least not without being told what it was all about and what they were facing.

So, when Ruby dropped it into the well and then was so hell bent to get it back they all went with her. The dark tunnels were pretty creepy, honestly she hadn't know that the water for the whole farm came from the tunnels. The water level seemed somewhat low to her, maybe there was a blockage somewhere? Well she didn't really care but just when they found the stupid relic, that's when things went to hell.

Grimm, of course it was Grimm but not just any Grimm. These lanky skeleton looking things didn't look like much but they all soon learned otherwise. Their screams made them all feel weak and tired, it was like their whole bodies were just too heavy to move. Yang felt like her will was just being drained along with her body. She felt weak, a feeling she hated feeling and yet she couldn't shake it off. Thankfully, Maria had come and told them to run. So they ran, they tried to make it to the well entrance but it was already blocked by more of them.

"This way!" Ruby's voice called out.

Her sister had found a hole in the wall she didn't know where it led but didn't care as long as it was anywhere but here. They ran into what looked like a basement, she could smell the old wood from the barrels lining the walls. There in the back was a set of stairs if they could just get to that they could make it up. It had to lead into the house or at least one of the other buildings. They could get out and then get the hell out of here.

Then it happened, Yang felt it hit her like a tidal wave as she fell to her knees. She heard the others fall as well. Yang tried to move but she couldn't, nothing worked. She tried to move to force anything to move even her mechanical arm wasn't responding to her commands.

This couldn't be how it ended could it? For them to die in some dead farm out in the middle of nowhere where no one would ever find them? How would her dad feel, he had already lost Summer and to lose both her and Ruby, Yang was worried that this would kill him. Yang still had vague memories of how much of a wreck he had been back then.

Then her thoughts went to Jaune.

Again, she was worried about how their deaths would affect someone and for Jaune his wound from Pyrrha was still too fresh. Losing all of them, this might just crush him and she hated that she would be a part of that. She wished she could see him again, there were so many things she wanted to say, wanted to do with him.

Their relationship was still young but she was enjoying it. Jaune made her feel good about herself, he made her feel things she hadn't felt before. She wanted more of that, she wanted to crawl out of here and see him even if it was just one last time.

The next thing she knew there was a flash of light and she could move again. Looking around the others were starting to get up too.

Good, that was good but the Grimm were still there. They looked stunned so Yang made her way to the door on the steps. They needed a way out and she pushed her body as hard as she could. She could hear the others but she pushed it away, she focused on the door and just the door.

But then it happened again, she heard the scream from the Grimm and she felt all her strength gone again. She was so close, she could reach for the door but slowly it seemed that the door just stretched away from her. It was like a cruel fate, a bad joke to be so close and yet so far away.

Then another flash, this time her mind started to piece together had to be happening. Ruby had filler her in on her eyes having some kind of power to them. She heard her dad and uncle talking about how she had frozen that giant dragon at Beacon when Ruby was still out cold back at home. She wasn't sure what to make of her little sister's power but she was damn glad she had it now.

Yang lunched herself at the door and blasted the damn thing open. They had an out they could get out as she made just one quick look behind her to see everyone else following.

"Hey what's going on?"

Yang ran past Qrow, they were in that seller of the main house with all the alcohol and he looked like he was getting plastered, again. Of all the worst times for him to go on a bender this was the absolute worst time.

"Uncle Qrow get up!" Ruby quickly ran to him and pulled him up.

"Hey come on, what are you doing?" He asked her drunkenly annoyed at being disturbed.

"We're leaving you idiot," Maria angrily said stamping her cane.

That was enough for Yang, she grabbed Blake and they ran off the others not far behind. She felt her lungs starting to burn but she pushed past it. It wasn't too bad but she didn't want to take any chances. She realized that Oscar was still outside, that he was attempting to fix the flat on the trailer they had found that they connected to her bike.

She hoped that he had fixed it, hell even if he hadn't they would drive out of here with one wheel on that damn thing if they had to. She called out to him she could hear something outside like a pump so she continued crying out for him to get going. By the time, she pushed open the front door the young man was standing up looking confused.

"We have to go, now!" She told him getting to her bike. She got on the seat and started it up she felt the shifting as everyone else got on. With a quick look to see everyone was on, she gunned it. They had to get as far away from here as possible. She could still feel her heart hammering in her chest as she drove down the road. The font of her bike smashed through the old gate and she just kept driving.

It was hard with the extra weight behind her bike, it wasn't designed with this in mind but she made it work. She had been driving her bike for years since she got it and she had pushed it to its limits to know what she could and couldn't get away with.

She could smell something, was that smoke?

Looking behind she could see some smoke in the distance. Did someone set the place on fire? Well whoever did, good job on her account. Her breathing was still ragged as she just tried to focus on the driving.

That was too close, way too close.

They all nearly died and there hadn't been anything any of them could have done until Ruby pulled a last minute save. She had never felt so helpless in her life, it had been utter terrifying, hell she had enough trauma to deal with and this, this was just going to add to it she just knew it.

It was five minutes later when she could calm down, they had put enough distance away that she felt safer.

"Oh god that was way too close." She muttered softly to herself.

 **-ARGUS-**

Jaune wasn't sure what to do he was sitting in his sister's living room just lost. It was after noon and all morning he had been trying to think of something to do. He hated just sitting here doing nothing and just waiting. After breakfast, he had gone into the backyard to just practice. First, he started with his swordsmanship, after an hour of that, he went with just hand to hand stuff.

It was a way for him to focus on something else he tried to just push everything else away. All the worry, all the doubt, all the hopelessness and fear, he just pushed it all away and focused on his movements. The world around him didn't exist, the only thing that did was him and his training.

At least for a bit but he couldn't hold back the world forever, it just gave him _something_ to do. At least until they thought of a way to help their friends. They had talked about renting a vehicle of their own but the problem with that was none of them knew how to drive. There was no way Jaune was going to ask his sister or sister-in-law to drive for them. He wouldn't drag them into danger since they would most likely run into Grimm and he wouldn't put his family in danger like that, even if it were to help his friends.

By noon he was wondering if there was anything at all, he could do, he ran out of ideas at the moment.

So when he checked his scroll again that day like had been nearly every hour that's when he saw it. Ruby's icon showed connection, not only hers but the others were slowly coming online on his scroll. The signal was weak but that meant they were within range of the city!

"I got them!" Jaune jumped up startling everyone in the living room where they all were.

"What do you mean?" Ren asked.

"They're on my scroll, they must be close!" He smiled showing them his scroll.

"Oh my god! Call them-call them- call them!" Nora practically jumped up and down.

Jaune didn't need to be told twice as he pushed her contact icon and held it up to his head. There was the tell tale sound of it connecting just waiting for Ruby to pick up. Jaune knew it was only a few seconds but it felt like an eternity waiting for her to answer.

" _Jaune?"_ Ruby's voice was heard on the other line.

"Ruby! Oh thank god, we were so worried about you guys." Jaune felt the relief finally flowing through him and the stress of the last twenty-four hours was finally leaving him. "When I saw your connection I knew you guys were close to the city."

" _Close to the city?"_ There was a pause before Ruby came back sounding excited. _"I can see it! I can see the walls of the city Jaune!"_

"Ruby how is everyone, is everyone alright?" He wanted to ask about Yang but he felt that wasn't fair to everyone else that was with them.

" _Well we have a bit of a rough time but we're all okay,"_ he heard something like someone was talking to Ruby on her end but couldn't make it out. _"Oh right we kind of picked someone up."_

"You picked someone up?" Jaune asked confused on where they could have done that.

" _Yeah long story, short version she was still on the train, her name's Maria and well, we'll tell you when we see you."_

"Thanks and tell everyone we're all glad you're all safe and we'll meet you at the main entrance to the city."

" _Thanks, just a sec Yang is saying something…Yang! I'm not saying that!"_

Jaune could only smirk and shake his head he could only imagine what Yang had asked her to say but he had a guess and he had a guess that Ruby was as red as her cape by now. "Tell Yang she can tell me in person and…tell her I'm happy she's okay."

He could hear Ruby shouting out his reply it did sound like they were moving pretty fast but if they only had Yang's bike they couldn't fit them all on it. Well he would find out when they arrived. They quickly made plans to meet up with everyone. Saphron said she could meet them as well but Adrian needed a change at that point.

She said she would meet them at the closest stop to her home as she took her son to get changed. The others quickly gathered up their stuff and made to the trolley to take them to the main gate. Thankfully, it was a straight line but Jaune felt like he wanted to run there, he was smiling from ear to ear just glad that everyone had made it. He couldn't wait to see them all, one of them he had to admit a bit more than the others.

When they got there, the area was pretty large.

"Where do you think they are?" Ren asked looking around to see any hint of their friends.

"Well they can't be too far from the main gate," Jaune looked around. "Maybe if she split up we'll find them?"

"Cute boy Oz!" Nora's scream made the two boys jump slightly and look around. When they had been distracted Nora had suddenly gone off somewhere. From the sounds of it she must have found them or at least one of them. They moved as fast as they could and quickly came upon the sight of everyone looking at Nora who had glumped poor Oscar who was on the ground with the much larger Nora on top of him.

Ruby was the first to notice him as she walked up to him with a smile. "Hey."

"Hey." Jaune smiled back so glad to see her again. "Rough trip?"

Ruby's shoulders slumped as she threw her head back with a groan. "You have no idea, you ever heard of a Grimm called Apathy?"

Jaune and Ren shared a look and shook their heads.

"Ugh, I never want to see another one of them again." Ruby sighed.

"Seconded," Weiss stated.

"Agreed." Blake said as well.

Yang had just finished locking up her bike hearing all of this behind her. She too had to admit she also never wanted to see those things ever again. On the way here, she had a lot of time to think and seeing Jaune, she felt herself feel uplifted just by seeing him. He looked over her way and locked eyes with her.

He looked a bit tired to her and she had a good guess he had been worried about them. She didn't like doing that to him but she smiled at him and he smiled back. That one smile made her feel warm inside because that smile was only just for her. The fact that it was just for her made her feel special in some way.

She had thought about Jaune on the ride here, she remembered how when she thought it had been the end how her thoughts had gone to him. Yang knew that she liked Jaune and had feelings but it hadn't been until that moment she started to think just how deep those feelings ran. Jaune was in front of her now as she smirked at him.

"Hey there Lover Boy, you know I did tell Ruby to-" She didn't get any further as he cupped her face and pulled her into a kiss. Her eyes widened but soon she leaned into it gripping his chest plate. She was surprised by Jaune's forwardness, she could get used to this new Jaune. After everything she needed this, the feel of his hands on her face, his right thumb was caressing the side and the warmth of his mouth on hers felt so good.

She could taste something on his lips as she moaned slightly just enjoying the moment. Having a boyfriend that was slightly taller was kind of sexy for her so she liked how she had to tilt her head up slightly to meet him.

"Alright I think that's enough," Qrow's annoyed voice called out.

Both pulled back with Yang's eyes bright and a bit hungry for more as Jaune's face flushed slightly looking around. There were various looks from the crowd around them as their friends looked on with large smiles.

Maria hit Qrow on the side of the leg with her cane.

"Ow, what was that for?" Qrow asked the small old woman.

"Let the young enjoy their youth," Maria told him. "I know I would if I was their age again."

Yang smiled at that and then looked back to her boyfriend. "Well I'm certainly not complaining."

Jaune scratched the back of his head slightly embarrassed. "Sorry I'm not sure what came over me there."

"Hey I said I wasn't complaining," Yang grinned wrapped her arms around the back of his neck.

"So…what was it you wanted Ruby to tell me?"

"Oh that," Yang pulled him in close to whisper into his ear. "I said 'tell Jaune when I see him I'm shoving my tongue down his throat', but you beat me to it."

Jaune pulled back blushing as did Ruby who knew exactly what Yang had asked her to say.

"So then, well I found my sister and her family so we're staying there." Jaune said awkwardly trying to change the subject. "She's going to meet us if you're all ready?"

"Yep," Ruby nodded seeing everyone else nod in agreement. Then she got a bit excited, "This is going to be great, we get to meet your family, well part of it, but that's still cool."

"Oh yeah Saphron and Terra are great," Nora told them as Ren nodded in agreement.

As they started to move to the closest tram station Yang linked her arm with Jaune who move slightly closer to her. Jaune was a bit worried he was dreaming for a moment and that he would wake up with them still gone but he knew that was silly. He could feel her here and for the moment, he didn't care about anything else that she was here with him.

"So…" Yang trailed off as her other hand stroked a piece of her hair. "Does your sister know about us?"

"Yeah she caught me looking at pictures of you and I told her."

"Oh, so she's cool and everything right? I mean nothing I should be worried about?" Yang asked.

"What, why should you be worried she's actually looking forward to meeting you."

"Oh, that's good." Yang breathed a sigh a relief. She saw the questioning look he was giving her. "Look I never had a relationship where I actually met their family and I'm just a little worried."

He smiled at her, "You have nothing to be worried about, my sister is great and she's really nice and wants to meet you."

"Well that's good to know," Yang told him as they came to a stop. As they waited for their ride Nora started to tell them what happened to them as they got to Argus. The others looked like they wanted to tell them something but it was not something they wanted to say out in public. They got onto one of the trolleys as Nora and Ren pointed things out to everyone.

For Jaune and Yang, they just stood silently next to each other just enjoying the moment. Yang rested her head against Jaune's shoulder. She was glad that he didn't use shoulder armor on his right arm since she preferred to use her flesh and blood left arm to touch him so it worked out.

She was only half listening to Nora and Ren, as she just wanted to enjoy the moment with Jaune. The place did seem really nice and she was wondering if maybe she and Jaune could go out after they clean up. After everything that had happened she didn't want to think about anything else, hell after everything she could use some time for just the two of them.

Before they knew it they had reached their stop as they all got out.

"Man this place looks great," Ruby said looking around the city. "It's a lot different than Vale."

"Hey there!" Someone yelled out to them as they turned to see an older woman with long familiar blonde hair with a toddler in her arms.

Ruby's face beamed as looked at the woman and then to Jaune and back again. "Oh my gosh you must be Saphron!"

She laughed, "And you must be Ruby. Jaune's told me a lot about you all."

Her eyes scanned the group as she matched faces with names, her eyes then landed on her baby brother linked arm in arm with a blonde young woman. Saphron looked her over a bit, she looked a little rough as did everyone else but she had to admit the woman was a beauty. She didn't know her brother had it in him.

She walked over as she extended her hand not holding her son out to Yang. "Glad to meet you, Yang."

Yang reached out with her metal hand. "Same, and who is this little guy?"

She cooed at the cute little toddler, she couldn't help but melt a bit at the little child. He tiled his head as though not sure what to make of her until he giggled and reached out with his little cubby hands.

"This is my son Adrian," Saphron said proudly. "Say hi to your uncle Jaune's friends, Adrian."

He gave a happy little sound waving his little arm wildly.

"He's so adorable," Weiss smiled down at him. She didn't have much in the way of memories when her younger brother was that age. Her family hadn't been very emotional, in fact she was pretty sure she saw servants more than she had her parents some times. She never got to really be a child or have pets.

Weiss couldn't help but let herself be a bit more open with herself in moments like this.

"Well let's get going and get you all settled in," Saphron stated. "It might be a bit tight, some might have to share a bed or an air mattress."

"What we just went through I'd take anything at this point," Blake sighed feeling a bit tired after the adrenaline wore off she was feeling how much sleep she felt she missed out on, she also had been forced to sleep in worst when she had been with the White Fang anyway.

"Oh I forgot that we got your bags from the train," Jaune suddenly remembered.

"Oh my god thank you!" Ruby threw her hands up. "I completely forgot about them."

"We have been a bit busy," Weiss nodded.

"Too bad mine are most likely gone," Maria shrugged. "Eh, not the first time something like this has happened."

"What? Been in a train wreck and lost your luggage?" Yang asked.

"Didn't get decent night's sleep because of Grimm?" Weiss asked next.

"Nearly died and had to travel in the snow?" Blake was next.

Maria just smiled at them. "Yes to all that and more. I've lived a very long and interesting life girls."

Given what they had learned that she in fact had silver eyes too when she was younger, before she lost them to a group of criminals. Also the fact that she was some legendary huntress the Grimm Reaper. Granted none of them knew about her but apparently, she had been a big deal to older generations like Qrow's.

Speaking of Qrow the man had been very quiet looking very sullen. He was lost in his own thoughts. He honestly didn't know what to do anymore. All this time he thought that Ozpin had some kind of plan, he had lived all this time working for him thinking that the man had a way to beat Salem.

What was it all for? What was the point of it all? Those were the thoughts running through his mind and honestly, he couldn't think of anything. He wasn't even sure what to do next. Qrow ran his hand through his hair wondering what the next step should even be. He looked around for a bar, drinking was his go to whenever things got bad, mainly because it was something that could take the edge off or in this case, make him forget things even for a bit.

Well they were trying to get to Atlas and as much as he hated it, maybe Jimmy might have a plan at the very least. Although Qrow didn't think, it would be much of a plan but it might be better than what they had, which was nothing.

"So how long have you two been together?" Saphron asked Yang and Jaune.

Both looked at each other trying to place it.

"A few weeks?" Jaune asked uncertain.

"About that I think." Yang agreed trying to remember when exactly they had gotten together. She knew how she just didn't remember the date.

"Ah so still fresh I see," Saphron smiled at them. "So I guess that means no fights yet or anniversary mistakes."

"Well unless you count sparing as a 'fight' then no," Yang shrugged.

"Although we've both known each other for nearly two years now," Jaune offered.

"Oh so you met at Beacon then," Saphron nodded her head. "So how did you two meet?"

Yang grinned as Jaune noticed the look as he pleaded with her. "Please Yang don't tell her."

"He threw up on my shoe on the air ride in," Yang said.

Saphron blinked and then burst out laughing. "Oh my god Jaune, that is just so you. This is Susie Silver all over again."

"Saph! I don't you to never bring that up again." Jaune pouted.

That got Yang's attention, "Susie Silver?"

"I'm not saying anything about that," Jaune's shoulders slumped.

Yang looked to Saphron who gave the blonde-haired woman a 'we'll talk later' look as Yang smiled and nodded her head. She was starting to like this woman and soon they all arrived at a nice little home.

"Well here we are," Saphron unlocked the door. "Jaune please show them where to put their weapons while here."

"Sure, this way everyone." Jaune led them to the closet by the main door.

"Oh is anyone hungry?" Saphron asked. "I can get some tea going but I can make you all some sandwiches if you're hungry. In fact Terry should be back pretty soon from grocery shopping and we can eat when she gets back."

A few stomachs could be heard at the mention of food. They hadn't eaten anything all day since they had been too busy trying to get off the farm and then when the Grimm showed up they had ran off without taking any of the canned food they had found the night before.

"That would be lovely thank you." Weiss sighed, as she felt tired and hungry in a way she hadn't felt in, well ever really.

Saphron placed her son on the carpet as she went to get his toy plane that was sitting nearby. She sat down as she took a look at her brother. Jaune had been visibly more at ease ever since they had showed up which was such a relief to her.

Yang and Weiss said at the same time as they shared a look and sat down on either side of Aiden wanting to play with the little guy.

Yang couldn't help but melt a bit at the sight of the little guy, he was just so adorable and innocent. She was vaguely remembered Ruby at that age but only barely. She played with his toy a little flying it over him and around him as he looked at it almost in wonder as he reached up giggling at the ship.

Yang smiled warmly at him, it was a long time since she felt something like this. With everything that happened it was just nice to have a quiet moment like this.

"It's so nice to meet you," Ruby said with a huge smile. "I have so many questions, I never heard much about Jaune's family and how he grew up."

"Oh trust me I got stories to tell," Saphron grinned. "Do you want the most embarrassing or the funniest?"

"Will you knock it off Saph," Jaune told her a little annoyed. He knew full well just what kind of stories she knew and would tell them. He had done enough to embarrass himself to his friends, he didn't need to add more fuel to the fire.

"Aww, I just love talking about my baby brother though?" She said while playfully pinching his cheeks.

"Knock it off," he fought back trying to get her hands away from his face while she only doubled her effort.

Yang glanced up and smiled, the sight reminded her a lot of how she and Ruby got at times.

"But you're my adorable baby brother," Saphron cooed at him.

"I am not a baby," Jaune said defensively and pointed to Adrian. "He's a baby."

In response the little guy looked at him and crossed his little arms and pouted. This was made even more adorable to Yang and Weiss who fawned over the little guy.

Blake was standing by the wall with the large bookshelf on it. She was interested to see what kind of books they had, maybe if she had time she could find something to read for later. She found a couple of possible choices as she noticed a small family picture in one of the spaces.

"So are you the only Arc living here?" Blake asked taking a closer look at the image. In it was a young Jaune with small pigtails in his hair with a small sigh that read 'help' on it surrounded by other girls. It was interesting to see such a large family. Being an only child Blake did wonder at times, what it would have been like to grow up with siblings.

"Yep, don't get me wrong I love my family but I wanted a bit more out of life and left as soon as I could." Saphron admitted. "Of course Jaune also seemed to do the exact same thing as me. Guess he wanted to be just like his big sister."

The front door opened up as Terra walked in carrying bags of groceries.

"Oh, everyone this is my wife Terra Cotta." Saphron introduced.

Terra looked at everyone in her living room. She knew how many were coming but seeing it in person was still something else. She really hoped they got enough room ready. "Wow, you certainly are a lot. Honey, you mind helping me put this away?"

"Sure thing," Saphron got up to help her wife.

With some extra help, a couple of plates full of different sandwiches piled on top. Plenty for everyone for more than one helping and given those that had been stuck outside the wall, they were all starving by this point.

"Oh man this hit the spot," Yang said between a bite. "So much better than canned food from who knows when it was bought."

"Agreed," Weiss took her next bite as her stomach thanked her for it while wanting more, something she was eagerly to do.

"Thanks for putting up with all of us," Ruby told them. "I mean there are a lot of us."

"I'm used to living with a large family," Saphron waved it off.

"Plus we're proud to help you all out," Terra stated. "Hunters and Huntresses do a lot for us all, you guys go out and risk your lives all the time for everyone so putting you up here for some time is the least we could do."

"Still, thanks for everything," Ruby was glad they were so understanding. Then again, thinking back on their trip to Haven Academy many people were eager to help them on their way. Even when they learned they were still students people wanted to help them out. Of course, people also asked them for help which they did of course. It helped them keep their skills sharp taking out Grimm and it was useful to earn some money. Sometimes they did a job for supplies and a place to stay for the night for free as well.

It was a bit like how she always wondered what the life of a huntress would be like. Just going around the world helping out those in need.

"So what's next for you all?" Terra asked them bringing Ruby out of her thoughts.

"Well since we're going to Atlas we're going to see if we can ask the military base to help us get there." Ruby told her.

Ren, Nora and Jaune shared looks as Jaune spoke up.

"Yeah see, when you guys were stuck out there we tried going to them for help." Jaune admitted. "We wanted them to send out a ship to look for you guys and bring you back."

"Well that would have been helpful." Weiss sighed.

"The fact that we didn't see one says that they didn't do it then," Blake stated guessing where this was going.

"Yeah they were really mean about it too," Nora crossed her arms with a huff.

"Was it really that bad?" Yang asked looking at the three of them ending on Jaune.

He nodded his head, "Yeah I don't think we can expect any help from them."

"Well we won't know until we try," Ruby offered. "Plus we have Weiss with us, maybe they'll let us in if she's with us?"

Weiss had a slightly dark look on her face at that comment. She really didn't want to return to Atlas, there was a chance her father would use any and all the influence he had to make sure she was returned and she didn't want to go back to that place. Trapped in her room, a prisoner in her own home and she would most likely never get out unless she learned to 'behave' to her father's standards.

Most likely would be married off as a trophy wife to someone he needed a link to for the company and she would be stuck in some loveless marriage like her own mother was.

"Weiss," Ruby said gently pulling the girl out of her thoughts. "Don't worry we'll always be there with you and for you, you're not going to be alone there anymore and no one is going to take you from us."

Weiss couldn't help but smile a bit at that. She hadn't said it out loud but she was so glad to be together with everyone again.

"So when do we leave for the military base?" Blake asked.

"Well if we're all done, let's go right now." Ruby stood up with her hands on her hips full of confidence.

Nora, Ren and Jaune shared another look, they knew that this wasn't going to go very well.

 **TBC…**


	23. Chapter 23: Anger and Loss

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 23: Anger and Loss**

Jaune sighed as he and his team were waiting behind the yellow line facing the Atlas base. He could see everyone else up front waiting by the closed gates. The same two guards were there, at least from what Jaune could tell they should have been the same guards.

"You think they'll do any better?" Nora asked out loud.

"We can only hope." Ren shrugged.

Jaune nodded, they were a bit too far away to make out what everyone was saying. He saw them gesturing to Weiss who seemed uncomfortable as the guards looked at her closely before saying something and pulling back. They left and were most likely getting that same woman as before.

"Well at least they're getting somewhere faster than when we tried," Ren admitted.

"I was kind of looking forward to singing again," Nora said.

"I just hope that they'll listen this time," Jaune sighed. "You think the plan to use Weiss to get us to Atlas is a good one?"

"Well her dad is powerful and wants her back," Nora shrugged.

"He would have a lot of influence." Ren nodded.

"I just don't like using her like she's some kind of bait." Jaune's shoulders slumped.

"Hey don't worry about it," Nora waved it off. "It's not like we're actually going to just hand her over. As soon as we get to Atlas we bail before he can do anything that's all."

Jaune had to smirk a little at Nora's optimism.

"What are you doing back here? I thought I told you to leave!" Cordovin yelled out seeing team JNR.

Jaune and Ren had to hold Nora back as she yelled back at the woman. Jaune was thankful Ren was here because Nora was freakishly strong for someone of her size. Although if she was serious she still might have been able to easily push them off if she wanted to.

In the end, the gate was slammed on them once more as Jaune sighed walking over to the rest of his friends. He hated that it ended like this but he honestly wasn't expecting much of a change. He stood next to Yang who looked a little bit more upset from whatever that woman said to her. It wasn't too visible but he could see that she was tense for some reason.

"You okay?" He asked softly.

"Yeah, I'm not going to let her get under my skin," she took a calming breath but soon felt his hand linked up with hers. She smiled at him as she smiled back and she squeezed it a little. Even in small moments like this he was there for her and she appreciated it from him.

"Uncle Qrow where are you going?" Ruby asked snapping their attention to the man.

"Going to look for a place to drink," He stated to her walking off and leaving them alone.

"Whoa, he seems a bit, well…" He wasn't sure how to put it as this was Yang and Ruby's uncle but in the amount of time he had known him he hadn't been this moody.

"I know, he hasn't been taking something we learned very well," Yang told him and the truth was that none of them were. She saw the questioning look and knew that they would have to tell Jaune, Nora and Ren what they had learned.

Part of her didn't want them to know, she knew and a part of her wished she never found out. She remembered that saying that 'ignorance was bliss', well she never really truly understood that until this moment.

"Well if he's going to be like that then who needs him," Nora huffed as she pointed to Oscar. "We got Ozpin to help us out."

The silence was near deafening as team RWBY gave each other looks. They couldn't put this off anymore they had to know as they weren't going to keep this secret from them. They deserved to know the truth no matter how much it might hurt.

 **-Arc/Cotta Household-**

It wasn't an easy story to tell the others, they had gone over what happened after the crash, what they found out about the Relic, Ozpin's history in fact the whole history of the world was tied up to him and Salem. To say that the atmosphere in the room was depressing was an understatement.

There was a long drawn out silence over the room as their friends digested everything. They waited to see how they would react they knew that this wasn't an easy thing to take in. In fact, they were still trying to come to terms with everything they had learned from Jinn.

Jaune was the first to stand up as he tried to make sense of it all. Everything they had said he believed because they wouldn't lie to them about this kind of thing. He was facing one of the walls as his mind tried to make sense of it all. The problem was that he just felt so frustrated, so helpless again and above all, he felt anger. Anger at having not been told any of this until now, he wasn't angry at them, they had told him when they could. He hated that Ozpin didn't tell any of them this, that he promised not to keep secrets and here he was keeping more secrets.

Hell this was the biggest secrets that Jaune could think about.

What was the point of anything they did if none of it mattered?

All the frustration and anger just kept boiling it up inside as he just lashed out punching the wall in front of him. He felt his fist break into it, he knew his sister would be angry at him but in that moment he didn't really care. Everything they've done everything they have all been through and what was it all for?

"Everything was for nothing!" Jaune angrily balled his fist, he felt like he wanted to tear something apart. He didn't care what he needed to vent on something at this moment.

"That's not true," Blake tried to calm the situation.

"Really?" Nora said sarcastically. "Because it sure sounds like it."

"If Salem can't be killed how are we supposed to win?" Ren asked as he had been thinking about the problem but he kept coming up with dead ends.

Again, there was nothing but silence in the large open living room as no one had any idea of how to deal with Salem.

Jaune growing frustrated with the silence said. "Yeah, great plan everybody."

Yang looked on worried about Jaune ever since she and Weiss had met up with everyone at Haven she had seen this from time to time. This darker side to Jaune that came out now and then, she saw it in the battle against Cinder, she saw it from time to time since then. Seeing it now though worried her, this wasn't the Jaune she knew, at least not the majority of him. He was still holding on to his anger, something she had plenty of experience in.

Oscar stepped forward, "Look none of this is great but we're not the bad guys here."

"You sure about that?" Jaune asked darkly surprising everyone. "He's in your head isn't he?"

He turned and walked over to confront Oscar. "Did you already know about this?"

"He didn't know any of it." Weiss told him trying to step in front of him but he just walked past her. His glare was only on Oscar as he grabbed the young boy by his shirt and held him up against the wall by the stairs.

"How much longer can we even trust him?" Jaune asked everyone.

"Jaune!" Ruby cried out as now Yang was seriously getting worried as she quickly went to him.

"How do we know it's even him? We've could have been talking to that liar this entire time!"

"Jaune!" Yang had finally reached him and pulled him away from the boy.

He stood there looking at her as she saw the pain and anger in his eyes, there was a hardness to his eyes but she held her ground. She knew anger well, she had let it control her too much in her life before she lost her arm and she wasn't going to back down. For a tense moment, she honestly wasn't sure what he was going to do.

Jaune broke the look, he then looked at everyone and finally Oscar as she quickly turned and went up the stairs. Yang watched him go and decided that he needed either needed a good talking to or maybe an ass kicking. She could do both as she followed him up the stairs. He went to his room and slammed the door behind him.

Yang opened it and quickly closed it behind her hoping that this wouldn't turn into a shouting match.

"I want to be alone Yang," Jaune said starting at the single window in the room with his back to her.

"Tough because we're talking about this," She sternly said. "What the hell was that?"

"We said no more secrets and he promised there would be no more and he lied to us Yang," Jaune said in a low and angry tone. "The biggest lie of them all and he still kept us in the dark."

"Yeah I know and I agree I'm pissed at Ozpin but Oscar didn't do anything." Yang confronted him.

"How do we even know that Ozpin isn't pulling the strings again?" Jaune wheeled on her. "He could have been acting for who knows how long and would we even know? No one knew that Ozpin wasn't who he seemed to be."

"Jaune you know better than that," Yang replied. "Oscar is just a victim in this, he never asked for any of this."

"Then Ozpin should get off his ass and come out and confront us about this!"

"Don't yell at me Jaune!" Yang's eyes turned red.

"Why not? What are you going to do about it Yang?" He challenged her. "Going to punch your way out of the problem like always?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She knew this wasn't normally how Jaune acted, he looked like he was ready to rip himself apart.

"What's wrong with me? What's right Yang? What's right about any of this? All this, all of everything we've been through was for nothing!"

"I can't believe that Jaune! There has to be a reason!"

"Then tell me why Pyrrha died for?" He angrily told her as there was a silence between them as tears forming in his eyes. His shoulders slumped as he sat on the bed looking down at the ground. "She died for nothing Yang. She never had a chance and she just died and…I couldn't do anything, none of us could."

Yang could see where a lot of this anger and pain was coming from now, her eyes returned back to their original color as she sat down with him.

"What has all this been for?" Jaune nearly broke completely then. "Pyrrha dying and what it did to my team, what it did to me. What you went through losing your arm, with your entire team being broken up and scattered. Each of you lost that bond for months and I know you were all lost. I saw it in Ruby when she was traveling with us when she thought I wasn't looking, I saw it when you all got together again in Haven how much being away from each other had left a whole in all of you."

Yang looked down at the ground silent for a moment. "Yes, well we're together again and whole. It sucked but we were able to move forward and got stronger because of it."

"Team JNPR will never be whole Yang, there's a huge gap that will never be filled again." Jaune said silently.

Yang looked at him seeing the amount of pain he had been holding back as she gently took his hand in hers. "I know, I wish there was a way to fill it but…"

"Yeah but…" Jaune nodded.

The two of them just sat there in silence not even attempting to say anything. They had no idea how long they were just sitting there holding hands.

Yang smirked suddenly as she let out chuckle as he looked at her in confusion.

"I guess this counts as our first fight?"

Jaune thought about it and he couldn't help but smirk in response. "Yeah, guess so. Sorry for yelling at you."

"Yeah it's okay," Yang shrugged. "It's been a stressful time for all of us."

There was a panicked knocking on the door. "Guys are you in there?"

"Ruby?" Yang asked as she got up and opened the door to see her little sister looking very worried. "What is it?"

"It's Oscar, he's gone!"

"What do you mean gone?" Yang asked.

"I mean I went outside and talked to Maria and I came back inside he wasn't around. He's not in the house anymore and no one knows where he went." Ruby told them looking very worried.

Jaune paled as he suddenly felt that this was all his fault.

 **-Streets-**

Oscar was walking the streets alone as the night had come to the city. After what happened, he needed some space. He really didn't blame Jaune but that person was kind of scary at the moment and he didn't want to be in the same house as him, at least until he calmed down.

Now he wasn't sure what to think or feel.

After everything, he had learned he had been trying to deal with it all. He felt like he was just another link in the chain, that his life was now nothing more than one more life for Ozpin, well maybe Ozma actually.

He honestly had no idea how it even worked, Ozpin said their memories would merge but what would that mean for him, would he still be him or would Ozma be the dominate personality? He remembered how when his first host had seen a reflection of Ozma so was that how it worked? The worst thing he could think was that 'he' would disappear and be replaced by either Ozma or they would merge to create a completely new person.

It sucked, he hated it but there was literally nothing he could do to change it, he was nearly fifteen years old and he might not even 'live' to see his fifteenth birthday. If he did, he doubted he would will be 'himself' for another full year. Ozpin never said how long this process took and Oscar still didn't have full access to all those memories.

He had been trying to think, to remember any other memories but whatever Ozpin did when he locked himself up in the back of his mind, it seemed to fully lock away Oscar's access. A part of Oscar was kind of glad, if this was true then wouldn't that mean whatever was happening to him was slowed down? Would he have more time to stay Oscar Pine?

What if it didn't work like that though?

Looking around he noticed that there weren't that many people around as he whispered to himself.

"Ozpin can you please come out? I really need to talk to you." He waited but all he heard was the normal sounds around him.

"Come on! I need you damn it, you can't turn your back now." He hissed out clenching his fists. He found a bench, wiping off a little of the snow he sat down. He felt so alone now, he had gotten used to having Ozpin in his head and now that he was 'gone' it felt empty inside.

What was he supposed to do now?

He was used to having Ozpin helping to guide him but now that he was gone, he had no idea what the next step would be. If they couldn't get to Atlas would they try one of the alternate ways they thought about before coming here?

As he sat there, he was wondering what he was going to do if Ozpin never came back. Would he just go back to the farm? No, he couldn't go back now, not after all of this. He was training to be a Huntsman now and yes, it was scary, he had seen more danger in the few months then in his entire life combined. Yet it wasn't all bad, he kind of liked the training, he liked the people he was with.

In fact, he was starting to wonder if he could call them friends. Sure most of them were about four years his senior, the only one close to his age was Ruby.

Thinking of the red caped girl made him think of how she had been dealing with all of this. She wanted to keep on going in fact she wasn't letting anything get in her way. She was going to Atlas and Oscar got the feeling if she had to she would swim there.

That brought a small smile to his face with that mental image.

She always seemed to know the right thing to say, the right thing to do and she was only two years older than him but she seemed so much more than that.

If he was going to be a Huntsman he would want to be one like her. Someone that never gave up and could inspire the best in people, he just hoped he could one day be half as good as her. He might be on limited time until whatever happens to him happens so he might as well make the best of the time he had left.

Pushing himself up he started walking, he wasn't sure where he was going but if Ozpin wasn't going to help then maybe he should take a page out of Ruby's book and figure it out for himself and then go for it with everything he had. He stopped suddenly as he caught his reflection in the glass front of a store.

It was a clothing store and as he was passing, he saw his reflection superimposed on a few of the clothing in the window for sale. A green leather outfit caught his attention as he was looking at it, it looked like he was wearing it in the glass. He had to admit that it looked kind of nice on him, he looked down at his farm clothing.

This was the kind of clothing that a farmer would use, well worn light and well used. If he was serious about being a Huntsman then he would have to start acting like one and start looking like one. He went into the store and asked to try on the clothing he had looked at. The store clerk was helpful and Oscar was thankful that the clothing actually fit him really well. The leather would offer a bit more protection against Grimm but not hinder his movements.

He needed more speed and agility then say armor in fact the only person he knew that wore armor was Jaune.

He frowned thinking of the tall blond guy he had been so angry it was kind of scary. It didn't help that the guy was a few feet taller than him and that armor he wore was kind of intimidating for a young man like himself. Still, he knew that Jaune was having a hard time he had seen it now and then although he didn't know the full details. Maybe he should do something to lighten the mood?

Thinking on how to do that he remembered how his aunt would make this great casserole when they had a hard day. It was something he learned from her that even he had made now and then when she was down. It was kind of a long shot but honestly after everything maybe they all needed was just one moment where they could all just come together and enjoy a moment.

Just one moment together when they didn't have to worry about everything, it wasn't much but it was at least something he could do.

While Oscar was heading home everyone else was looking for him. They had split up into different groups to cover more ground. Jaune was with his sister and teammates as they looked around while Ruby was with her team looking on the other side of the city.

Jaune was lost in thought most of the time, as he felt so guilty about all of this. He shouldn't have gotten angry with Oscar and blamed him for something that wasn't even the boy's fault. He should have been better than that. There was also the fact that Saphron wasn't happy with the damage to the wall either when she had seen it. Jaune knew he would get a talking to later about it but when they had told her about Oscar having gone missing, she put it off for a later time.

He had lost count of how long they had been looking for him and he was starting to get worried. What if something happened to him? He would only blame himself if something did happen.

"I don't get why he would just run off," Saphron stated.

"We…kind of got some bad news," Ren stated trying to think of a way to explain it to her.

"I get that you're all hunters, well hunters in training but what news could be this bad?"

The others didn't say anything as they exchanged looks.

"Something you can't say then?" Saphron sighed ever since they got here she had a feeling they were keeping secrets. She knew that because of their job they had to do things that required them to keep to secrecy but it wasn't easy to handle sometimes when she wanted some kind of explanation.

The whole thing seemed strange, a single fully fledged Huntsman with a group of students on a mission? Then there was Maria as well, they had explained that she had been left behind on the train but then why was she still with them?

There were a lot of little things that didn't add up but she didn't push it since she doubted that they would tell her.

It was a bit frustrating at times but it was also worrying.

She still found it hard to believe that Jaune of all people had damaged that wall. Her little brother had always been the quiet one, maybe even a little bit of an introvert but he never showed signs of that kind of violence. Looking at him, she couldn't help but think about how much he's changed since the last time she saw him.

He hadn't even gone to Beacon yet and he has still been his lovable and dorky self, he still was, but now he had matured in a way that made her a little worried about him. There was this darker side now and she just wanted to pull him into a hug like when he was little. It was obvious to her that Jaune had been through a lot lately and it had forced him to grow up in a way that she never expected.

Even right now, he looked like he was carrying a lot of weight on his shoulders and the big sister in her and the mother side of her wanted to help him, she just wasn't sure how.

"We just found out that what we thought we were going to do it going to be a lot harder," Jaune explained as much as he could to her. It was also an understatement they still had no idea what to do even if they did find Oscar. As far as they knew, they had no real way of winning this fight.

Saphron didn't know what mission they were on but it sounded very dangerous to her. She had started to get to know Jaune's friends and she could tell how close they were to each other. She had also seen how close Yang and Jaune were together, something she was very eager to learn more about them and the girl.

Maybe they didn't have to go? What if they stayed here? They could stay with them until they found a place, she and Terra could help them with that. It was be great to have some family here, yes she left home quickly but she still missed her large family. There was plenty of work for Huntsmen and Huntresses here since Atlas was more for defensive actions. If something like another train attack happened having a group of trained hunters would be great to have.

"Well what if you stayed here?" She offered. "There's plenty of work here you could do and a lot of good as well. I know having you all here would be nice and Argus is a very nice city to live. You all could just stay and work and live here."

Jaune had to admit it was kind of a nice thought but they couldn't, this was just too big to ignore even if there was no hope for it.

"Sorry sis but this is just too important to just stop." He glumly told her.

Saphron felt a bit deflated hearing that, she had tried but it seemed that there wasn't much she could say at this point, they were pretty set on doing whatever it was they were doing. Thinking on the time she would have to go pick up her son from day care soon. She wished they could change their minds but it looked like nothing might come of it.

"I better go pick up my son from day care," She told them. "I'll let Terra know what happened and we'll try to search for a bit longer before meeting back up at the house."

With that she left them as the three teammates continue on without her. It didn't take much longer until Jaune needed to sit down. He found a bench as he tried to think but his emotions were all over the place and it was hard to think straight. All he could think about was how badly he felt he messed up.

"Hey there's a café," Nora pointed out hoping to figure out something to say that could distract Jaune. "Want to get something to warm you up?"

"No I'm good."

Nora's smile dropped. " You sure?"

"Yeah I am."

Nora and Ren shared a look as they walked off. When they were far enough away Nora looked worryingly at Ren. "Ren, I think he's getting worse."

"He is," Ren nodded.

"I thought him and Yang getting together would help him." Nora leaned against her boyfriend as he placed an arm around her shoulders hugging her close.

"He was, in fact they both are still good for each other," Ren told her. "It's just that after what we learned, it's hard to take no matter what."

"I'm scare for him Ren," Nora whispered out. "I don't think we can take another loss."

He pulled her as close as he could both for her sake and for his own. He too didn't want to lose someone else, Jaune was more than just a teammate and leader he was a brother in all the ways that mattered. They both had no blood family left and their friends were the only family they had in the world at the moment.

Their 'family' had been through a lot recently and they didn't want to lose it or have it torn up again.

Jaune was still sitting on the bench just feeling horrible, he really wanted to find Oscar and say how sorry he was. There really was no justification in his mind about what he did, he had just been so angry and frustrated he wasn't even thinking straight.

As he was lost in thought, he noticed something odd. A single leaf was blowing in front of him it was a bit odd to still see one given that all the trees that hadn't lost their leaves for the winter were the type that stayed green all year round. He saw it blow into what looked like a park across from him.

'Maybe Oscar is there?' He figured as she decided to take a quick look it didn't seem that big so it shouldn't take that long a quick look would do. He walked over and when he got to the entrance he noticed, a statue was in the center of it. When he got a good look at the statue, he felt like someone had punched him in the gut.

There standing there with her shield in front of her looking down was a statue of Pyrrha.

He moved like in a trance to see it, he felt all kinds of emotions seeing it but it was all jumbled up inside. He could only stare at her image looking back at him.

He noticed the plaque as he got a good look at it.

In Honor of

Pyrrha Nikos

One of the many students

Who fought valiantly at

The fall of Beacon

Jaune felt his heart break all over again reading those words. Miles away from where she died and here this was staring back at him, another reminder of what he lost, of who he lost and everything that could have been. He missed her every day it seemed and sometimes he would give anything if just for one moment more, if only so he could say all the things he never got to say.

He couldn't stand to be here anymore just looking at her now it was like his heart was being broken again and again. He made to move but suddenly stopped when a gentle voice spoke up next to him.

"It's really beautiful, isn't it?" It was a voice that made his heart freeze at how familiar it was.

'Pyrrha?!' he turned to see someone else there with him.

Looking over he was shocked because for a brief moment he thought it really was Pyrrha. He quickly realized this wasn't the woman he knew. The woman was holding a bouquet of red flowers did have the same color of hair and eyes but she was different person.

She wasn't as tall as Pyrrha, her hair was much shorter and she had on glasses as the older woman looked up at the statue. He suddenly realized that this must be a relative of Phyrra's, he looked away unable to look at the woman. He had been her partner and yet what had he known about her personal life? He didn't know how this woman had to be related and he felt bad about never asking Pyrrha about her own family. It was just one of those things that you always thought there would be time for so you never did.

There was another question would the woman hate him if she knew who he was? That he had been her partner and how he had failed her? Failed to help her when she needed it, Jaune hadn't even been there for her at the end. He didn't care if he died with her but she had died alone again, Cinder and he should have at least been there for her.

He honestly wouldn't blame her if she did hate him since sometimes he hated himself.

"Yeah it is," He hated making small talk so he tried to figure out what to say next. "So, uh, why here?"

"She trained here, Sanctum Academy," the woman said without looking away from the statue. Her voice sounded so much like Pyrrha's that it was scary. "Everyone was crushed when she chose Beacon over Haven. No one wanted to see her go, but it was where she wanted to be."

She started to hold the flowers a little tightly to her chest almost looking like she was lost in a memory of Pyrrha.

"But it was where she wanted to be. I'm just glad that she was surrounded by such amazing people." Now she looked at him and Jaune felt a chill, did she know who he was?

He looked at her and as their eyes locked, he wanted to ask the question if she knew but he could see it in her eyes. He felt his eyes stinging as the tears were welling up. He looked away not able to meet the woman's gaze anymore.

"She should be the one standing here." He told her.

"She is," She said as he looked to see her looking back at the statue. Then she turned to face him, "She understood that she had a responsibility. To try, I don't think she would regret her choice because a Huntress would understand that there really wasn't a choice to make. And a Huntress is what she always wanted to be."

"She never got the chance to graduate but she was a huntress."

Thank you

Jaune?

He looked back and she was just gone the flowers were by the feet of the statue but the woman was suddenly gone. He looked around but there was no sign of her, it was like she hadn't even been here. All that was left were the flowers.

Was the woman some type of Huntress? Or had she actually been…

He looked at the statue and for a brief moment, he wondered. He knew that apparently the gods were real now even if they had left their world. Magic was real if in a limited form and apparently the afterlife existed from what the story they told him said.

Was it so hard to believe that in all that maybe there was a little bit more to the world that they didn't know about?

"Jaune," Nora came up to him with Ren by her side. They were holding coffee cups, with Nora having one for him. It was cold and she felt that something to keep them warm while they looked for Oscar would be a good thing. She was about to say something else when the words died in her throat as she gasped at the sight of the statue. Ren was silently just as shocked to see the statue there before them.

"I'm sorry," Jaune told them. "I've been a terrible leader and a terrible friend and I..."

"Jaune," Ren spoke up cutting him off gently as he looked to see the worried looks in their eyes. "This has to stop."

"We heard what you said to Cinder at Haven," Nora started up. "You're not being fair to yourself. We love you just like we loved Pyrrha, we're teammates, family."

"We don't want to lose you too," Ren told him.

"I think…I think she knew she wasn't going to win," Jaune looked up at the statue. "That she might not come out alive but…she knew that she was the only one that could try."

"And so she did" Ren stated looking at the statue holding Nora's hand.

"Maybe we should too." Jaune stated.

"Yeah." Ren agreed.

"She might not be by our side anymore but we can fight like she is." Nora told him.

"And in a way, she would be." Jaune agreed.

"Let's check back at the house." Ren

"Thank you." Jaune said softly to the statue. Maybe that was the one word he needed to say to tell her. He wouldn't be the man that he was without her and he would always carry her memory alive in his heart.

 **TBC…**

 **Well I'll say this, next chapter will have a lot more original content to it. I tried to freshen this up a little bit showing Oscar's POV of what happened to him and little things like that but I really don't like just redoing canon stuff but it was needed for the story.**

 **Also I'm going on a work trip out of the country for 6 -8 weeks. I should have internet but depending on my work hours it will depend on if I can get anything done and posted. I'll do my best to write what I can when I can but for the next two months it's going to be a bit slow.**


	24. Chapter 24: Letting Go

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 24: Letting Go**

When everyone had gathered together outside of Terra and Saphron's home they had found Qrow passed out on the steps. Ruby sighed, she had tolerated her uncle's drinking before, it hadn't been that bad before. Lately however it had gotten out of control and she wasn't sure how much more she could deal with this.

She honestly wasn't sure what to do with him by this point, sure he had a few drinks before but now was not the time to get plastered at every moment. As they helped him up Ruby couldn't help but feel a bit of shame about her uncle. She always looked up to him, he had inspired her weapon and fighting style, he taught her so much that he was almost like a second father than an uncle but now looking at him, the smell of booze coming off him she couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment with him.

"Well this is great for the neighbors to see," Terra sighed as they picked up the drunk man off their steps.

"Uncle Qrow," Ruby said angrily at him. "Now is not the time for this."

"What are ya talkin' about?" Qrow said in a slightly slurred voice.

"Oscar's missing," She told him. "We have no idea where he is, he could be in trouble or he could have tried to leave the city for all we know and-" She was cut off as the front door opened and there stood Oscar in new clothing looking at them slightly surprised.

He had heard some kind of commotion outside but was surprised to see everyone there.

"Oh, so this is where everyone went." He said mainly to himself.

"Oscar!" Mostly everyone shouted.

The young boy soon found himself for the second time that day barreled over only this time by a group of people and not just Nora. When they pulled off him it was Ruby that spoke to him first.

"Where were you?" Ruby asked him worried. "You just disappeared and we had no idea where and we were out looking for you this entire time."

Oscar was surprised by this, "Oh man I'm so sorry. I, well I just needed some time to think and I needed some space to think was all. I'm sorry for worrying everyone like that."

"I'm the one that's sorry," Jaune came forward looking forlorn. "I shouldn't have taken out my anger on you, you didn't deserve any of that and I'm just sorry for what I did and for what I said to you."

Oscar felt a bit better that things between them were going better now. "Well to be fair you said a few things I've been thinking about myself for a while now anyway."

A beeping sound was heard from a fire alarm in the kitchen going off as Oscar's eyes widened in horror. "The caesural, I completely forgot about it!"

"Don't worry we got this," Terra smiled at the boy glad that things were going well as she handed off Adrian off to Maria to hold as she went into the kitchen.

"You cook?" Blake asked him.

"I learned from my aunt," Oscar shrugged.

"So now that we're all together now what?" Weiss asked. "We still don't have a way to Atlas."

"That's…not entirely true." Jaune said hesitantly he had been thinking on the problem since they were denied entry into the base. "It's kind of desperate though and it's, well, it's really risky."

"What is it?" Ruby asked eager to hear it as Jaune always did come up with good tactics and plans.

"Since they aren't going to lend us an airship, we just kind of…borrow one."

There was silence there as the full meaning of what Jaune was proposing sunk in.

"You, want to steal an Atlas airship?" Weiss asked dumbfounded.

"That's a bit, ambitious," Blake commented even in her White Fang days they might have raided facilities and transports but actually stealing Atlas airships they hadn't done until Beacon's fall and that was only because of Cinder's influence she bet.

"That's insane," Weiss countered.

Yang looked at her boyfriend like he grew a second head. "Jaune if we do that, then Atlas will be on our asses with a vengeance."

"To say the least," Weiss added. "They won't take it lying down, how would we even go about doing that?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead yet," Jaune admitted.

"Okay that's enough," Qrow had been going up to his room to lay down when he heard this nonsense. "You kids try something like that and there's no going back. You can't just laugh it off or walk away from something like this. Look we can just go with one of the original ideas of getting a boat from Vale."

"That would take months to get there," Ruby countered. "We're so close right here."

"Kid we're not-"

"No!" Ruby put her foot down with his. "Uncle Qrow we are going to Atlas and I'm not letting anyone get in the way. I don't know what happened to the Uncle I looked up to but lately you haven't been that person. I always wanted to be like you but now…now I don't think I even know you anymore Uncle Qrow."

Qrow was silenced by that looking at his niece as she looked at him with pity. He had seen that look once before, years ago when Summer and Tai had found him during a bad time. It was that look that he hated seeing in those that were so close to him and now Ruby was giving him that same look.

"We're going Uncle Qrow," Ruby said in a determined way. "We made it all the way here after everything that got thrown at us. We found each other and now we're stronger now then we ever were, I don't know what's going to happen when we get to Atlas but it's our best chance to get this safe."

She patted the relic as she continued to look at him. "We're going and you can either help or you can get out of the way."

Qrow stared dumbly at her for a moment not sure what to say to all of that, she had grown up some that was for sure.

"You guys are really that desperate to get to Atlas aren't you?" Saphron asked as the group had kind of forgotten that she was there. Terra came out of the kitchen looking like she had heard it all.

"Sis, we don't want to involve you guys it's-" Jaune started but his big sister stopped him.

"Jaune you're my brother, of course I'll help anyway I can." She looked them over. "This is really important isn't it?"

"More than you know or more than what we can tell you," Ruby told her.

Saphron looked to her wife who sighed and nodded. "Alright well lucky for you guys I'm in charge of the communication systems so I can tell you if you don't take care of that, you'll get spotted and chased down within a few minutes."

"So we got to take that out," Jaune muttered as his mind started thinking.

"We can plan this out tomorrow," Ren stated. "I believe a good meal will help and plus, I think we all could use a moment together."

A few smiles got everyone to agree on that as they started to set up dinner Yang moved over to Jaune to whisper to him.

"Jeez, who knew my boyfriend was such a bad boy under all that dorkiness," She grinned at him. "First the transcripts and now this? You got anymore darker secrets I should know about?"

"Nothing that I can think about," Jaune joked with her.

"So Oscar," Ruby said to him looking over his new clothing. "I like the new look."

"Thanks," Oscar looked down at himself. "I figured it was time for a chance, I needed to take a step forward and I thought it was time to face my future."

Ruby looked a little sad as she knew what he was talking about but wasn't sure what to say to him.

The dinner went well, everyone felt a bit more relaxed after the stress of the day as plates and food were passed around. Everyone was enjoying the food that Oscar prepared, they were a bit surprised the young man could cook.

"Oh this is pretty good," Nora took another mouthful of food.

"Yep," Terra looked over at Oscar. "You mind giving me the recipe for his later?"

"Of course, I don't mind at all," Oscar was glad that they liked it. He only ever cooked it for his aunt so he wasn't sure if the others would like it but looking around, he was glad that they were. It was nice to do something for everyone, even if it was a little thing like this because it was 'him' doing it, just him.

"So Saphron, you got any good stories about Jaune here," Yang nudged his shoulder with her own as they were sitting next to each other.

"Oh please don't." Jaune groaned.

"Well let's see," Saphron made a thinking face as she fed her son in his little chair. "Oh how about the time we played dress up as kids?"

Yang's eyes widened with a huge grin on her face. "please tell me there are pictures."

"Oh yeah."

"I hate you both," Jaune groaned into his hands.

"No you don't," Saphron told him. "Now there was the time we went on that camping trip with our cousins."

Jaune groaned remembering exactly which trip she was talking about. Yang could just hold in a laugh as Saphron continued on with the story. She was really starting to like this woman.

When the meal ended everyone was getting their plates when Blake started to pick up Yang's for her.

"I got it Blake," Yang told her. "I told you like on the train I can do things myself."

She got up and went to the kitchen before Blake could saw a word leaving the dark-haired girl a little down. Weiss noticed this and quietly slipped in behind Yang. When they were in the kitchen Weiss had to ask what was going on between her and Blake. She noticed little things lately and it was starting to add up.

"Hey are you okay?" Weiss asked. "You and Blake seem kind of…off."

Yang sighed as she was considering telling her it was nothing but that would only worry her and honestly, maybe getting a bit of it out would help. Although they wouldn't have much time with everyone coming and going to talk in private. So, she would make it short and sweet.

"Blake thinks I need to be protected all the time and I hate it," Yang told her in a low voice. "She keeps thinking I need it but I don't and it just, well it's pissing me off now. At first I thought it was just her trying to make up for leaving but now I think it's something else."

"Have you talked to her about it?" Weiss offered.

Yang sighed, she hadn't she knew that she should but honestly she just didn't want to deal with it at the moment.

"Look when you can talk to her just don't take too long because this could only get worse as times goes on."

Yang looked at her with a curious expression. "Well aren't you miss expert. It wasn't all that long ago that you couldn't stand to be partners with my sister."

Weiss looked a little uncomfortable with that. "Yes well, I've learned through experience and I admit things were rocky at the start."

Yang snorted as that had been an understatement.

"Regardless, we're friends now and we've both grown and changed." Weiss told her.

"Aww, so you are my little sister's BFF." Yang cooed.

Weiss got on a determined look on her face then. "No and if you keep this up I'll freeze your hair in your sleep so it shatters."

Yang gasped in actual horror. "You wouldn't."

She looked at the serious look on Weiss' face.

"You would." Yang stated seeing the look in the other girl's eyes. "Fine, I won't mention it and I will talk to Blake, just not together. It's been a rough time."

Weiss nodded in agreement as others came in to bring in more dishes, they both separated and went their own ways. Yang soon found yet another person walking towards her, boy she was popular tonight but since it was Jaune walking over to her she didn't mind. In fact, she was looking forward to some boyfriend/girlfriend time with him.

As Jaune walked over to Yang he leaned down a bit and whispered something. "Hey, can you follow me?"

She nodded as she followed him upstairs, he led her to his room as she smirked. "Oh, taking me to your bedroom, what exactly are you planning to do?"

Jaune paused for a moment when they got to the door. "Not what you think."

Yang's raised an eyebrow as he led them in. He saw down on the bed as he pulled out his scroll, he played with it as he looked at it. She sat down next to him wondering what was going on.

"I, when I was out looking for Oscar, I found this park. It's actually not far from here but the thing is what I found inside of it." Jaune paused for a moment. "There was a monument for Pyrrha there."

That got Yang's attention as she was surprised to hear but then she suddenly realized how that had to effect Jaune. He had been acting slightly differently since they met up but she hadn't been sure if something had happened or if she was just hoping for the best. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay?"

"Yeah…actually well better would be a good way of saying it." He told her as he opened the scroll. "You know I never really grieved for her, not properly anyway. I never got to say goodbye and while walking back here from seeing it and talking to someone I met there, well I started to really think on things."

"What kind of things?" Yang asked not sure what he might be talking about. She knew that a part of him would always hold Pyrrha in a special place in his heart. It didn't bother her, well it didn't bother her too much. A part of her sometimes did wonder if Pyrrha suddenly came back, would Jaune pick Pyrrha over herself?

"A lot," Jaune sighed. "I've been holding on to a lot of things since Pyrrha died, I never got over a lot of it. I think that she wouldn't want me to be like this and I don't want to let her down. I also think that, it's time for me to start letting go of her."

"Wait, what do you mean letting go?" Yang asked.

"She'll always be a part of me and of us but I've been holding on too much. She's gone and, well…I need to let her go." He looked up into her eyes. "Since we've been together, I've really liked it, honestly I never thought I could get such an incredible woman again in my life."

Yang smiled at him hearing that.

Jaune continued on. "But I know that it's not fair to you to continue on with us if I'm still stuck in the past. If we're going to be together then I should focus on us and so…"

His face fell as he opened his scroll and pulled up the video the last video he had of Pyrrha. The training video that Yang had seen him with that night of their talk, that night that looking back, started this whole thing with them.

"Jaune, what are you doing?" Yang asked him a little confused and a bit concerned.

"Letting go," He said after a moment of silence as he played with the commands.

 **[DELETE VIDEO?]**

 **[Yes/No]**

"Whoa there Jaune," Yang stopped him placing a hand over the screen. "Are you sure you want to do this? I know she meant a lot to you but this is the last thing you have of her isn't it?"

"She did mean the world to me," Jaune said sadly staring at the frozen image of her there on the screen feeling the sting of tears in his eyes. She looked so happy and…alive. A part of him ached to see her again, to hear her voice again but he had realized that he had been doing too much of that. He was stuck in the past, stuck in that moment when he learned she had died, stuck in that moment he had been pushed into that locker and sent away.

It was time to break free of it, no matter how much it hurt.

"You also mean the world to me Yang," Jaune looked up with red eyes. "She made me the man that I am but you make me a better man. When I'm with you now, I feel more like I'm alive instead of just living. I feel things for you that make me want to be better. I want to be with you fully Yang, I want to give you my all and not hold back."

Yang was speechless from what he was saying, never had anyone said anything like that to her. She felt her heart actually flutter from it, something she only thought was something in Blake's more silly romance novels.

Jaune pulled her hand away from the screen and gave one last look to the image in the screen.

She swallowed hard as a lump in his throat came as his finger pressed the button.

"Goodbye Pyrrha, I'll never forget you." He whispered out.

 **[Video Deleted]**

It was done, she was gone now, she was fully gone and it hit Jaune like a truck. The tears came as he dropped his scroll and Yang was immediately there holding him as he broke down. It was final now, he took the first real step of putting her behind him but it hurt. It hurt almost as much as the day he lost her as it almost felt like he was losing her all over again.

Yang pulled him into a hug, she didn't know how much effort that had to take but it had to be a lot. If she had a personal video of someone like Summer, Yang wasn't sure she could delete it if it was her.

She just held him because he needed it, because she needed to hold him. She felt the tears hit her cheek as she rubbed his back as he held onto her. She heard the silent sobs there as she didn't say anything as she had no words only actions. After a moment he finally pulled away wiping his red eyes.

"Sorry," Jaune looked away slightly embarrassed at breaking down like that. He hadn't expected that to happen but as soon as he deleted the video it had hit him all at once. The months of anger, pain and loss just rushed over him like a tidal wave.

"Nothing to be sorry about," Yang said softly to him.

He took a few calming breaths, "Maybe but this is also something I think I needed to do."

Jaune looked at her again, "I needed to move forward and I want to move forward with you Yang. I want to give us and our relationship its own place. I want to be with you Yang and that means I can't do it half-heartedly. I wanted to give you everything I have because you deserve it."

"Jaune, that's…" She her words died in her throat as she couldn't believe that a guy would go so far for her. She felt her heart pick up as she stared into his eyes as she felt a swarm of emotions so she just acted as she pulled him in for a kiss. She wished she could tell him how she felt but instead she went with showing him how she felt.

After a minute she pulled away caressing his cheek and smiled. "Thank you Jaune, I promise you I want us to have the best shot at this too."

He smiled back as they sat there just being with each other for a moment.

An hour later into the night the girls were in one of the guest rooms they shared. A few sleeping bags and mattresses had been blown up but it was still a tight fit. They hadn't had the chance yet but they were going through their bags double checking what supplies and items they still had.

Ruby was looking into her bag looking for something until she found it.

"There you are!" She pulled out the little stuffed bear with the red cape and hood. "I was afraid I lost this."

"That's the bear Oscar won for you isn't it?" Blake asked seeing it.

"Yep," She smiled hugging it closer to her chest. "I was a little worried I lost it."

"Yeah you wouldn't have to have lost it from your date," Yang joked grinning at her.

Ruby's face blushed. "It was _not_ a date Yang, we were just hanging out!"

Yang just smirked it was so easy to tease her little sister sometimes. "Still, you going to be keeping that the entire time?"

"Why not? It's a gift, I guess I could send it to dad for safekeeping when we get to Atlas," Ruby sighed looking at the thing.

"I thought you might be too old to be sleeping with teddy bears." Weiss rolled her eyes but in a gentle manner.

"Mr. Bearinton is more than just a teddy bear." Ruby defended.

"Mr. Bearinton?" Weiss asked making sure she heard that correctly.

"W-well what else would you call a bear?" Ruby asked her.

Yang shook her head as she got her stuff put away and headed for the door. "I'm heading out for a bit, I should be back soon."

"Going somewhere with Jaune?" Ruby asked her with her own smirk.

"Not this time, it's a bit more of a personal thing," Yang said cryptically as the other girls just looked at each other and shrugged.

In the backyard of the house a lone figure of Oscar was sitting on the porch just looking up at the stars in the night sky. Well he was trying to, the lights in the city kind of made it a little bit more difficult here then they did at the farm.

He heard the sliding door behind him open and was surprised to see Ruby walking out.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey, saw you back out here. What's ya doing?"

"Just looking at the stars," Oscar replied and looked up. He soon found her sitting nest to him as she looked up with him.

"They're easier to see back home," Ruby frowned.

Oscar chuckled. "You know I was thinking the same thing before you came out here."

"I guess the stars would be easier to see on a farm, right?"

"Yep," He nodded. "I take it it's the same from, where was it again, Patch?"

"Oh yeah," Ruby smiled thinking of home.

"What's it like there?"

Ruby thought about it, "Kind of quiet in a way. It's on an island so it's not as developed as the main land of course. It's only got the one city, a few small communities scattered around but not too far away. We live in this house by the woods not too far away from the town and it's got this large clearing we used to play in all the time."

"Sounds really nice," Oscar said picturing it in his mind.

"Oh we should totally take you to see it when we can," Ruby said excited in fact she could bring all her friends with her it could be like a huge party.

Oscar put on a sad smile still looking up at the sky. "Maybe, if I'm still 'me' by then."

Ruby's excitement fell as she remembered what Ospin's soul was still inside of him and that they were slowly merging. She still wasn't totally sure what that meat for Oscar. "Sorry."

"Don't be," he shook his head looking at her. "I've starting to come to terms with it. Still I always wished to be something more than a farmer, to do something with my life. Guess you should be careful what you wish for."

"Oscar, do you think you'll still be you by the end of it?" Ruby asked him.

He shrugged. "I'm not sure maybe if _someone_ would come out and _talk_ about it?"

Oscar paused hoping to hear Ozpin's voice in his head so that he could learn what the full effect would be. He saw several different hosts in what he saw of the past but there was no real context. Did the hosts memories and personality still exist or did this process make them merge into a new being with the memories and personalities of both combined?

"Anything?" Ruby asked him.

Oscar sighed. "Nothing. He's still quiet, I'm not even sure what he did he's even aware of what's going on."

"We'll figure this out," She told him.

"I hope so," He sighed again. "At any rate if I do become someone else I was thinking on all the things I wanted to do but I kept finding out that I did a lot of it already."

"Oh?" Ruby asked getting curious now. "What kind of things did you want to do?"

"See the world for one."

"Well you've seen a lot of this continent and we're going to Atlas so that's a good start," Ruby grinned at that.

Oscar nodded. "Yeah, I always wanted to go on an adventure."

"Same, and here we are."

"Wanted to make some new friends."

"You got us and we're your friends too so what's next?"

Oscar was pleased to hear her say that as he thought on. "Well ever since I started training, I think I want to be a Huntsman that helps people."

Ruby smiled at that as it was similar to her own dream. "Yep, I'm with you there and you're off to a good start too."

"Thanks," He scratched the back of his head. "I always wanted to…"

He paused as he blushed as he suddenly realized what he was going to say, he was just kind of caught up in the moment and nearly blurted out something he would rather not say at least in front of her.

"Go on," She nudged his shoulder. "What were you going to say?"

"It's stupid."

"Come on, please. Tell me what you were going to say."

"You'll laugh."

"I promise I won't."

"I…wanted to know…what it would be like to kiss a girl," his face flushed bright red at that.

Ruby had a small blush of her own as her eyes widened a bit before staring at her knees. "Oh."

"Told you it was stupid." He really regretted telling her that but if he did become someone else he at least would have liked to have known what that would be like.

"You…thought about that?" Ruby asked gently.

"Kind of," Oscar nervously said. "There kind of was this girl in my class, Juliet. She's the daughter of a merchant and everyone in the classroom seemed to like her. Well either wanted to be her friend or, you know."

"So, if you were back home you would like to…kiss her?" Ruby felt uneasy for some reason asking that question.

Oscar thought about it. "Not anymore. I mean she was obviously into another boy and most likely I wouldn't be surprised if they got together soon if not already. It was just a stupid crush anyway and I had no chance with her."

"Oh." Ruby wasn't sure but she felt glad to hear it. She also felt that she put Oscar into a bit of a hard position with asking that question. It felt a bit unfair so she decided to share something with him.

"I haven't either." She admitted.

"What, kissed a girl?"

"No! Well, yeah but I mean I haven't kissed a boy either." She blushed at his lame attempt of a joke at her expense.

"Oh," Oscar blinked. "I kind of thought…"

Ruby looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Thought what?"

"I just thought you being a couple of years older than me you would have had at least dated or maybe even had a boyfriend at one point."

"Please," She rolled her eyes. "I'm just Ruby Rose, the socially awkward average looking girl. It took me a long time just to make friends in Patch and even in Beacon I didn't have many outside of my team and JNPR."

"Average?" Oscar said. "I always thought you were pretty."

Then he clapped his mouth shut as a slip of the tongue brought made him mortified, he admitted that to her face. Ruby's eyes widened looking at him before she quickly went back to her knees as she nervously started to play with the hem of her cape.

"I-I'm not pretty." Ruby stated. "Blake is pretty, Weiss is beautiful, Yang is, well Yang. I'm just kind of average compared to them."

Oscar could see that she had some confidence issues about this. He might be embarrassed to admit it but she looked like she could use a bit of a boost. "I always thought you were pretty from the moment I saw you."

Ruby blushed even more but smiled. No one had every called her pretty, cute yes, her dad often did as did Yang, usually to tease her. But never pretty, so she just thought that she wasn't. It wasn't like boys lined up to talk to her like they had with Yang so she just assumed she wasn't that attractive. Not that she really cared about it. She had her friends, her weapon and her dream of being a Huntress after all.

It wasn't until the dance at Beacon that she started to feel a bit of loneliness when she had seen all the couples together and she had been alone. It hadn't lasted long because of what happened that night but she had been wondering what if she had asked someone out? Problem was no one asked her and also the fact that she was two years younger than everybody most likely didn't help either.

So when Oscar said she was pretty she was glad someone finally said so.

"Thanks," she told him.

There was a moment of silence between them as Ruby cast sideways looks at Oscar as thoughts started to enter into her mind. He was really a nice guy and it just sucked what he was stuck with. She wanted to help him but what could she do? There was also another thought entering her mind and she wished it would stop.

Oscar had been great to hang out that day after they had slipped out of the club and even winning her a prize. He paid for a few things as well and she never got the chance to pay her back. A small voice in her head told her there was one thing she could do. She was also convinced it sounded a lot like Yang's voice in her head.

Maybe as a friend she could help him out with one thing after all?

"Do you really want to?" She nervously asked.

"Want to what?" Oscar looked at her confused seeing her face all flushed and looking very nervous at her knees.

"Want to kiss a girl?" She quietly said.

His face heated up, she couldn't be actually asking him what he was thinking right? There was no way that this amazing girl was really going to give him something he knew he would cherish forever.

"Uh…y-yeah." He felt his throat dry up as his hands started to sweat a little.

"Well then…maybe as a friends we could, help each other?" Ruby shut her eyes.

' _Oh god why did I say that? What's wrong with me? He's going to think I'm strange, I am strange, this is strange. Oh, why couldn't I just go to bed early tonight?'_ She panicked in her mind.

"As friends?"

She nervously looked at him. "Y-yeah. I mean we both kind of want to know about it but what's the odds of us finding the time with everything going on?"

"We are kind of busy with saving the world." Oscar admitted.

"Exactly and if I want to do something like this, well, I want someone I can trust."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

"Of course it does," Ruby placed her hands on her hips trying to look like she knew exactly what she was talking about even if her face was still very red. There was yet another moment of silence between them as neither of them knew what to say next at first.

"So, how do we do this?" Oscar asked.

"I guess we just kind of tilt our heads and move in?" Ruby shrugged. Despite having seen Nora, Ren, Jaune and Yang do it she wasn't sure exactly what to do.

"O-okay then," He tilted his head and closed his eyes as she did the same but they both tilted the same way and bonked into each other.

"Ouch."

"Ow, sorry," Oscar quickly said.

"Okay how about I go left-my left- and you go your left?" she offered.

"Yeah that works," he really hoped this would work out.

As they got closer both of them could feel their hearts hammering away in their chests. Nervously anticipating what was going to happen next between them. Oscar felt his lips touch Ruby's and he was surprised by how soft they felt. He could smell her shampoo in her hair. For a moment they didn't do anything neither of them sure what to do next but Oscar suddenly had a feeling.

It was like a vague sensation that he knew what to do. He gently placed a hand on her cheek as he pulled her in slightly. Ruby was taken aback by it but she went with it as he seemed to deepen it. He started sucking a little on her lower lip as Ruby's mind was suddenly filled with a need, a near desire for more.

She tried her best to return it as the two lost themselves in it. Oscar's body seemed to know what to do as he reached around her waist with his free hand pulling her closer. Ruby's hand went to the deck they were sitting on for more balance as the other felt his chest.

Was kissing supposed to feel this good? She wondered as she took small breaths to keep on going. He wasn't being forceful in fact it was almost like he was guiding her through it. She wasn't sure what she was expecting but this wasn't it.

Both were surprised when a small moan escaped form Ruby's mouth.

They pulled back from each other as both were slightly breathing a bit heavily both blushing as they stared at each other in surprise at what had happened between them. Quickly they made some space between the two of them neither one sure what to do or say next. They couldn't look each other in the eye anymore as both were staring down.

"Wow." Ruby muttered. "That was, that was really nice."

"Y-yeah it was," Oscar admitted he had no idea what came over him. It just felt natural, almost like he had done this before. Many times before was this like how his body was remembering combat moves from all the previous lives?

Ruby felt her heat racing and she wasn't sure why, it was just as friends right? She just wanted to help him out because she couldn't do anything else to help him so it was okay right? Then why did she feel so warm inside and why could she feel her heart beating so fast in her chest?

Was kissing always this good or was it that, Oscar was just a good kisser?

That last thought wasn't helping any, she needed to leave, she needed to get some space.

"Well I got to go, got to get ready for bed, see you tomorrow!" She quickly said as she jumped up and quickly went to the door.

"Um, okay. Goodnight?" Oscar said nearly in a daze.

He could still taste her in his mouth, his first kiss and he felt like he was floating. Yeah, he knew that he wouldn't be so lucky to have a girl like Ruby in his life as more than just a friend but for that moment he didn't care. He had his first real kiss and it had been great and it had been with Ruby a girl that had could now admit he had been smitten by since the first time he saw her.

No matter what happened in the future, he was going to cherish this moment.

Ruby quickly entered the living room closing the door behind her. Her thoughts were all over the place. She hadn't even noticed Maria sitting in a chair watching the young girl walk in.

"Something interesting happen just now?" The old woman smirked seeing the flustered look on the young girl's face.

"W-what!?" Ruby was caught off guard by Maria. "Nothing, nothing happened!"

The old woman gave her a curious look. "My eyes might not be as good as my original but I can still notice a few things."

"It's nothing really." Ruby said nervously wishing she could just go to her bed and hid under the covers. If Yang ever found out about tonight, she would tease her about it for who knows how long.

"Alright I won't pry but you mind if I give you some advice?" Maria asked her as Ruby nodded. "From me to you, if you find something in life that makes it better don't be afraid of it. I've been running in fear all my life since I lost my eyes and look at me now."

"But you're still here alive," Ruby said confused.

"Yes, but I'm a lone old woman," Maria said sadly. "I spent so much time disappearing that I only existed instead of lived. I have no family of my own, no real home, no one who would miss me when I'm gone. I spent so much time being afraid and hiding that I never took the chance to get close to someone else in case someone came after me again and used them to get to me or they would get hurt because of me."

"You can't be afraid to live Ruby," Maria finally told her.

"I'd miss you." Ruby said suddenly.

"What?" Maria asked her.

"You said no one would miss you but I would." Ruby said with a kind smile. "I never had someone like you in my life. My parents didn't have any surviving relatives so I never got to have anything like grandparents growing up but to be honest, if I did I kind of hope they would have been like you."

Maria was touched by the young girl's honestly and it was a nice sentiment for an old woman like her. "Well thank you that's very nice of you to say. Although you should be thinking about that as well one day."

"Huh?" Ruby tilted her head.

Maria smirked. "Well as far as I know you're the last silver eyed warrior left. Best you find yourself a nice boy and start making some kids of your own to continue on with the legacy."

"AHHH!" Ruby covered her ears. "Maria! I'm still too young for that!"

Maria just sat there laughing at how easy it was to tease the young girl.

Yang had been walking for a bit trying to find the right location. She had to ask for directions a couple of times from a new night owls out. She didn't have much trouble finding it as she walked through the entrance. There she saw the statue that Jaune had told her about seeing her there with her calming presence she was surprised by how well they captured that part of her personality in the statue.

She walked over to it looking up at the stone face of her friend.

"Hey P-Money, wow look at this. I'm not sure if you would like that they did this for you or not. So…I'm sure what to say…god how does Ruby make this look so easy when she does it for, Summer."

She sighed as she looked on for a moment. "Look I don't know if you can hear me, I don't know if I'm just talking to a piece of rock or you can hear this but I'm going to try it out. Ruby does it all the time so I figured why not. Well I'm not sure if you get caught up on current events where you are but things have been, well they've been up and down."

"Lost an arm but I got a new robot one to replace it," Yang flexed her hand. "Still having trouble dealing with a lot of crap that happened that night. Team broke up but we eventually got back together again. Learned that the gods actually exist and yeah turns out there is an afterlife which is why I'm talking to you now."

That was a revelation for Yang, sure Aura was supposed to be the manifestation of the soul but did that mean that there was an afterlife? Well apparently, there was as Ozma was sent back from it to this world by the God of Light. She still wasn't sure how the hell that didn't upset that 'balance' they talked about but whatever.

"I also wanted to let you know that, I'm dating Jaune." Yang paused almost like if the statue would have a reaction. "Yeah surprise to me too. Never thought I would end up with a guy like him but well, we've both been through a lot and we kind of bonded over it and before you know it, wham, I've fallen for the dork."

Yang smiled slightly at the statue, "Bet that was how it was for you huh?"

"Still we've both got more healing to do but I think between the two of us we got a good thing going here. There's another reason I'm here Pyrrha, I know you might have had your reasons for going off and fighting. You may have had your reasons for pushing Jaune out of the line of fire because you knew he might die but that was a dick move."

Yang scowled at the statue now. "You really hurt him girl, I mean a lot. He's been so twisted and messed up from your death and the worst part was you pushing him away to protect him. Partners aren't supposed to do that, they aren't supposed to stand in front of you, they're supposed to stand next to you."

The blonde sighed taking a breath she was getting a little too heated. "Okay maybe I'm talking a little from experience with Blake. Still haven't talked to her about what she said to me recently and maybe it's a bit of why I'm angry at you. But you did hurt Jaune, I know you didn't mean to but you did."

Yang looked back up at the statue as a part of her wished she could actually talk with the girl again but knew this was the best she could get. "Still I get it but I don't want to do that to him. I nearly died recently and I can only imagine how that would have devastated him, I don't want to do that to him. I've seen that happen with my own dad and I never want Jaune to go through that."

"I can't promise I won't die because I know I can," She rubbed the part of her arm that was connected to her robot one. "I came close to dying twice now and it kind of opens your eyes to your own mortality. Still, the best I can do is fight to get back to him no matter what. To give it my all to always get back to him because I know he would do the same for me now."

"I…I care for him Pyrrha, more than I thought I would," Yang whispered to herself. "After everything we've been through, I think this relationship is one of the few good things to come out of it."

Looking up at the statue, "I also will be looking out for our boy Pyrrha, you may not be here to look out for him but I can take that load for you. It's the least I can do."

"Well…I think that's all I got, not sure if you hear any of this but I hope you did. I also hope you don't mind me being with Jaune too. Still, see you later Pyrrha and I hope wherever you are, you're happy for us."

 **TBC…**

 **Normally I average around five thousand words per chapter but this ended up being over seven. So a little bit longer chapter than normal for everyone.**


	25. Chapter 25: Plans and Preparations

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 25: Plans and Preparations**

It was late when Yang finally got back to the house from her visit at the memorial statue. She felt a bit better after it, maybe this was why Ruby always talked to mom's grave all the time. She was considering that the next time Ruby went, she would go with her sister.

Kicking off her boots she noticed that Qrow was out cold on the couch, Maria was taking a chair all her own since the old woman was small enough to sleep somewhat comfortably in it. Gently Yang made it up the stairs trying not to wake them making it to the girls' room. It was more of an office room that Terra had honestly that had a pull-out couch in it, a few sleeping bags under them.

Looking in she could see Ruby was fast asleep holding that bear to her chest. Weiss was with her taking the other spot on the pullout looking like she was keeping to her side of the bed. Blake and Nora were on the ground with the sleeping bags. Yang was quietly slipping off her clothing and putting on hers not trying to wake them. She saw the lone sleeping bag for her and stopped herself.

She really didn't feel like sleeping alone tonight.

In fact, she didn't want to sleep alone tonight, so her mind made up she quietly left the room. She saw Jaune's door not that far away and was just making her way to it.

"Bathroom is the other way," Saphron's voice started the blonde brawler.

"Holy crap, don't scare me like that!" Yang hissed out as quietly as she could.

Saphron could only smirk, "Sorry but what are you doing up so late?"

"Uh…couldn't sleep. You?"

"I just put Adrian to sleep, he was a little cranky about it so it took some time," the woman stated eyeing her up. "So, you just wanted to go walking off late at night in your sleepwear or did you have a destination in mind?"

Yang was panicking at the moment. Sure, she liked Jaune's sister but how exactly do you say 'oh I'm just going to sleep in the same bed as your baby brother' in a way that sounded way better than that did.

Saphron had a knowing smile on her face as she placed a hand on her hip looking at the younger blonde. "Going to Jaune's room?"

Yang shifted a little seeing the look the woman was giving her she could see right through any excuse she could come up with.

"Yeah."

Saphron was a bit surprised by that. "Okay I didn't know you two were that far in your relationship but I should tell you the walls aren't that thick so if you two are going to-"

Yang cut her off. "No! I mean we're not that far, we've just, well we just kind of shared a bed a couple of times."

Technically it was one bed and a couch but she didn't see the need to add that in.

Saphron got a knowing look on her face. "So you two just like being next to him when you sleep."

Yang thought about it, "It's a bit more than that. We've both been through a lot and it's just comforting. Knowing someone is there, knowing that he's there, hearing the beating of his heart, feeling the warmth. It's…just kind of hard to explain."

Saphron nodded her head. "Don't worry I get it, I know that feeling. Well as long as you two don't take things too far I'm okay with it. You two are old enough to know what you both want."

Yang gave a thankful smile. "Thanks."

"But if you do please keep it down and please use protection."

Yang's face heated up at the teasing she wasn't used to being on the receiving end of things. Yang's mind came up with a response finally as she grinned. "Oh well no promises there, he's a handsome young man after all and maybe I would like to see if he's packing a longsword or broadsword."

Saphron winced. "Please I don't need that mental image in my head about my baby brother."

Yang chuckled as she turned to walk away glad to get her back for that.

Saphron had to admit she liked the girl, Jaune really did outdid himself with her. She hoped they were happy together. Watching the blonde walk away she couldn't help but noticed Yang's backside, well-toned legs with a tight butt in those black shorts. Saphron did have to admit, if she was a little bit younger and single again…

She chuckled as she shook her head, she had a beautiful wife waiting for her in bed. Speaking of that, she wondered if Terra might be up for a little fun. They had learned how to be quiet so not to wake up their son after all.

Yang knocked on the door as she saw Jaune opened it up, he had changed into shorts and a t-shirt. She was kind of hoping he would have been sleeping without a shirt but this was good too.

"Yang? Is everything okay?" He asked concerned. He was worried she might have had a nightmare or something but she didn't look upset.

"Mind if I come in?"

"Uh, yeah sure." He moved aside as he closed the door behind them. She sat down on the small bed taking in the small room as she looked at him and padded the spot next to her. He sat down with her wondering what she was doing here.

"So, I was wondering if about something," Yang started. "I was kind of hoping you won't mind me sleeping here with you tonight."

Jaune swallowed, sure they had fallen asleep before but the first time was kind of a forced environment and the second had just kind of happened. They have never really planned for it before, he didn't mind it in fact he found he liked sharing a bed with her.

He sat down next to her. "I-I don't mind Yang."

Yang smiled, "Good I was hoping you'd say that."

"Yeah but the bed is kind of on the small side." Jaune nodded to it as it was a single bed used for only one person.

Yang only grinned as she got up and pushed him into place onto the bed as she then quickly straddled him propping herself up on her hands. Jaune couldn't help but notice that the shirt she was wearing sagged slightly giving him a great view of her cleavage. He blushed a bit as he quickly looked back up to her face out of habit.

Yang arced an eyebrow at him. "You know Jaune when you're girlfriend gives you something to look at it's only courteous to look."

"S-sorry I'm still getting used to all of this," Jaune said as he nervously placed his hands on her hips. "You are the first girlfriend I ever had."

She smiled as she liked the feel of his hands on her as she leaned down onto him pressing her impressive chest against his. "I know and it's sweat, plus you are the first real boyfriend I ever had."

"I thought you said you dated before?" He asked confused.

She rolled her eyes as she flicked his forehead lightly. "Dated, usually only a few dates at the most with the same guy. No one's ever made it to the full on boyfriend level until you."

"Oh, then I'm honored." He started to run his hands along her hips.

Yang and to surprised a slight moan that felt really nice what he was doing as her hips slightly shifted against him. "Well let's see, we've done kissing, making out, dates, you've seen me naked."

"What? When?"

"Okay practically naked with just my underwear." She corrected. "We've slept together a few times too and yes I know how that sounded you just look cute when you blush like that."

Jaune pouted at being called 'cute' in that way although what he didn't know was that Yang found him cuter when he pouted only making her grin. Jaune decided that maybe it was time to try something, they had been doing other things lately, hell he had been allowed to fondle her breasts once, something he never thought he'd get to do with someone like Yang. He shifted his hands down and grabbed her butt.

Yang jumped at the suddenness of his actions but moaned biting her lower lip. "Oh, aren't you getting adventurous."

"Well my girlfriend keeps telling me to try and be more assertive."

"Smart girl," she smiled as she pulled him into a kiss. She knew what she had just said but it had been a bit of an emotional day and the two of them just wanted to lose themselves in something pleasant.

Jaune could feel how firm her ass was as he kissed her deeply, her artificial hand gently grabbing the back of his head deepening the kiss. Then he felt her other hand snake its way up his shirt, he could feel her hand caressing his bare skin. He pulled one hand to her exposed back feeling the warmth of her skin there.

Yang couldn't help herself she was really enjoying this plus feeling his body was a bit of a turn on. He had definitely gotten more fit with all his training. She couldn't wait to see what he would look like in a year later. Then he attacked her neck with his mouth, she felt him planting kisses and then sucking on the side of her neck. She bit her lip moaning out, she was starting to breath a bit heavier now as she found his earlobe and gently licked it.

Jaune shivered at the feel of her warm breath there, he never knew he could feel sensitive in that area until he and Yang started to do things like this. He felt her grinding against him and he couldn't help but feel something in his shorts starting to get excited as well.

Yang gasped feeling something hard pressing up against her between her legs. She ground against it feeling the hardness against her folds and then Jaune groaning as his hips pressed up against hers. She mirrored his groan as a feeling of want starting to come over her. She knew both of them were getting riled up and if both of them continued on this route things would go even further.

For a split second she wondered if that would be so bad?

Then her common sense finally kicked in as she pulled away and pushed herself up to hover above him.

"Whoa, whoa we need to calm down a bit," She breathed as she could see his flushed face below her as she bet she wore the same expression.

Jaune took a moment, "Was I doing something wrong?"

"Oh no you were pushing all the right buttons," She grinned down at him. "But are you sure you want to take this all the way?"

Jaune thought about it, really thought about it. Okay sure there was the very large temptation to do it, what guy in his position wouldn't want to? But thinking about it more this might not be the time and place. This was his sister's place after all and maybe he was a bit old fashioned but he wanted this to be perfect, or as perfect as he could make it.

He wanted to have a great night with her that lead up to this moment.

"Yeah, yeah you're right," he took a few calming breaths.

Yang was thankful he was so understanding a few guys wouldn't have been, it was why she was with him. He wasn't like those types of guys, she felt safe around him, she trusted him. Although a part of her really wanted to try and take things further, even if she was a bit nervous about it. She had never had a guy she thought about going further, maybe even all the way with.

But if they did go that far what would they do? The sounds might carry and also they had no protection. It wasn't like she had any birth control pills or condoms and did she want to risk it without it? Sure, she could tell him to pull out but there was no way of knowing if that would work and he could do it in time.

"Sorry to blue ball you like that," Yang apologized to him because if he was as turned on as she was he could use some release as well.

"Eh, it happens," He tried to shrug it off although his erection wanted to finish, he tried to calm down more.

"Oh?" Yang grinned against as she gently leaned onto him. "Got all hot and horny at times?"

She loved the way he blushed when she teased him like this.

"Yang."

"Oh I better be one of those reasons," She told him.

"Yes you are," He honestly told her.

She smiled happy to hear that. "So, you ever touch yourself thinking of me?"

"Yang!"

"Hey I've touched myself thinking of you," she whispered into his ear. She remembered that time in the shower after his little magic touch of a massage.

"This is not helping." Jaune told her.

In the morning Yang slowly started to wake up feeling the warm body she was sleeping on. She also felt a hand gently brushing through her long golden hair. She sighed in contentment at it, Jaune was the only one she allowed to touch her hair like this and at the moment she was glad he did.

"Did I wake you?" He asked.

"Doesn't matter, feels nice," She muttered snuggling up against him.

Jaune smiled as he continued to run his hands through her hair. Looking at the clock he could see it was still a bit early but pretty soon everyone would start to wake up. Still he wanted to enjoy the moment with her. Just them lying here like this he felt calm and content, the feel of her warm body pressing up against him felt nice. He did try and avoid thinking of how nice a few parts of her body were against his.

After a few more minutes he had to get up, his body needed to empty his bladder and given all the people in the house and the limited bathrooms they needed to get up. Growing up with seven sisters he knew exactly how long they could take.

"Come on, time to get up." He nudged her.

Yang groaned. "Do we have to?"

"Sorry but we can't spend the day in bed."

"Why not?"

"Because we have to eat and I need to go to the bathroom."

Yang muttered something as she contemplated her options. She did feel like eating and now that he mentioned it, she could also use the bathroom. Grumbling she pushed herself up and stretched out. She felt her hair and grimaced as she knew she had to have some pretty nasty bed hair. It was the downside to having so much hair, it got easy to get messy.

She cast a look at Jaune who was just staring at her. "What?"

"N-nothing," He blushed realizing he had been staring at her. "It's just that, well, you look amazing."

Yang was surprised by that, she looked a like mess but it was nice to him to think so. Getting up both of them went to leave the room but stopped suddenly as right in front of them was Nora. The girl had stopped heading down the hall. When she saw Jaune's door open she was about to say good morning but seeing Yang walk out with him made the girl stop dead.

Seeing their messy clothing and hair it was obvious that Yang had spent the night.

Nora gasped as she had a huge smile on her face about to say something when Yang quickly rushed forward and put her hand on the smaller girl's mouth. Knowing Nora, she was about to yell something and Yang didn't need to have this broadcasted.

"Jaune I'm going to borrow your room for a moment," Yang told him as she pulled in Nora. "We need to have a girl talk."

Jaune watched as the door closed and he would leave it to Yang. In the mean time he was going to get to the bathroom.

Yang still had her hand on Nora's mouth as she gave the girl a hard look. "Now I'm going to release my hand, don't yell whatever it is you're going to yell okay?"

Nora nodded as Yang pulled her hand away. "I can't believe you guys slept together!"

"Nora!" Yang hushed her.

"Sorry-sorry but I didn't know you guys were that a far ahead." Nora beamed.

"We're not," Yang corrected her. "I just wanted to share his bed."

Nora tilted her head. "Uh, okay but why?"

Yang smirked at her. "Come on, you never wanted to share Ren's bed?"

The sudden blush on Nora's face told the blonde brawler everything she needed to know. Nora fidgeted in place a bit from that comment. "Well, not really. I mean we've only just started to really date the same time as you and Jaune really."

"Trust me you should try it out, it's really nice." Yang told her.

Nora thought about it, she really thought about it.

Breakfast was pretty normal, although what most people missed was the little awkward moments between Ruby and Oscar. Both of them had trouble looking at the other without blushing and so they usually avoided eye contact at times. Maria however did notice it and couldn't help but be thankful for the entertainment. At her age she found it when she could get it.

After that a map was found and placed on the table as they gathered around trying to come up with a plan for 'borrowing' one of the Atlas airships. The map had a salt shaker placed in the Atlas base to mark what they needed to take.

"So even if we get in there does anyone know how to fly it?" Blake asked around.

"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked him.

"Sorry I never learned how to fly airships," He shrugged.

"What?!" Ruby was taken aback by that. "But you…you know." She didn't want to let it slip that he could turn into a bird and fly himself in front of Saphron and Terra.

"That's why I never learned," He answered her as the others in the know, saw the logic in that. Why learn to fly when you could do it yourself?

"Well I know." Maria spoke up making everyone look at her.

"What? I may be old but that just means I've lived long enough to do more than most of what you kids have collectively done in your lives." She defended herself.

"So you know how to fly one of these?" Weiss asked.

"Well not that model," Maria shrugged. "But it shouldn't be all that hard. Atlas likes to keep things simple for their controls."

"Huh, I wonder if that's why Torchwhich was able to use that Atlas mech so well that one time," Ruby thought about it and seeing the blank looks on a few people. "Long story from our time at Beacon."

"Well even if you do get in there, there's a tower around here," Terra told them placing a pepper shaker on the map near the boarder of the town in the one of the mountains. "This is a communications tower that is used as part of the early warning system. If this is on, they'll be able to track you and intercept you before you get too far away."

"Can you shut it down?" Jaune asked.

Terra shook her head. "No way, I may be the one keeping their system working but you need military code of a high ranking officer to shut it down. I know because when we have to take it offline for maintenance last month that's what had to happen."

"Well what if we take out the tower?" Blake asked as she had been looking at their options. "I don't mean destroy it but hack into it and just shut it down?"

"There would be a window before the system notices something is wrong," Terra thought it out. "It would give you enough time to get out of range before the system alerted anyone to the issue and attempted to reboot it remotely before a team would be sent out if that didn't work. If a team went out it would still take them time to get there and find the problem."

"I should be able to do that," Blake found it ironic that her time in the White Fang infiltrating SDC and Atlas facilities was actually going to pay off. "I'd like to recon the area a bit before we start to know what I'm heading into."

"Cool, Yang you think you can drive her out there?" Ruby asked.

"Sure," Yang said neutrally with a shrug. There was an odd air of tension but no one was sure if they should comment on it or not. They ended up moving on for the moment.

"But how will Maria get inside?" Ren asked. "The base commander doesn't like her much."

"Feeling is mutual," Maria muttered.

"It's not like we can just stuff her into a bag and bring her inside," Nora shrugged.

Jaune looked at her and then remembered that large case Weiss had from the train. "Uh…actually we might."

Everyone looked at him as he elaborated. "Weiss that large baggage case is large enough to fit her, I think."

Weiss looked at the old woman. "She might fit."

"Well let's see then," Maria told them.

It took a few minutes, Weiss had to empty it out entirely as they found that Maria did fit although it would weight a lot, it had wheels and Maria couldn't move at all or else the case would wobble. It was doable however so they had their way to sneak Maria in.

"But if I'm going in there to 'go home'," Weiss nearly bit out the last part of that. How she hated the thought of having to go back, mainly she wanted to stay as far away from her father and brother as was possible. She just knew that after this hurdle her family would be the next one, they would have to deal with at Atlas among other things.

"Then how are we supposed to get the vehicle?" Weiss looked around. "She can't just come out with Atlas personal watching me."

"Well how about us as a distraction?" Saphron said with her son in her arms. "Nothing distracts like a child throwing a tantrum. Isn't that right sweetie?" She switched to baby talk to her son.

He giggled happily at her.

"Will that work?" Blake asked.

"Trust me it will work," Terra smiled.

"But how will you get in?" Ruby asked her.

"I have a visitor's pass," Saphron explained. "Civilian family members can get them and I used it to visit Terra when working late sometimes. Although I'm very limited in where I can go it's close enough to the landing pads for Adrian to get plenty of attention."

"Are you two sure you want to get involved in this?" Jaune asked his family. "You've both have done a lot for us already and I don't want to put you all in any kind of danger. If they find out you helped us they could arrest you both."

"Saph and I talked about it last night," Terra stated adjusting her glasses. "Jaune you are family and we want to help out. We don't know what exactly is going on but we can tell it's really important. We both are prepared to face the consequences."

"But we're being smart about this," Saphron continued on. "We're not doing anything that can be linked to helping you. They might ask about you but we're just going to say you showed up and we gave you a place to stay. You were all very secretive, which you are."

"So it's not lying and all Terra did is tell you some information." Then she switched to a fake dumfounded voice as if she was telling something to the authorities. "I was just visiting my wife when our son threw a temper tantrum. How was I supposed to know someone was stealing an air vehicle?"

Jaune was thankful but he still was worried about his family, he was glad that they were doing the least amount in the plan. There might not be anything to link them to what the rest of them planned on doing at least nothing concrete.

"So what about communications?" Terra asked them.

"We're just going to use our scrolls," Ruby shrugged as it had worked in the past.

"That's going to be hard if you have to hold them in your hand the entire time," Terra said thinking about it. "Maybe you should get some Redclaw ear pieces. They can link to your scrolls and you can use them to talk to each other without having to take out your scrolls."

"That might work," Weiss nodded her head. "I think I saw a store selling them earlier."

With that the plan was starting to unfold, they worked on some of the finer points trying to make sure everything was covered. When they all agreed that this was the best shot, they had then it was time to get everything ready. A few of them would go get the supplies like the ear pieces, others would check the area where they wanted the ship to pick up the rest of them. The last was Blake and Yang as Blake had to check out the tower to see what she was dealing with.

The ride there was in silence as Yang hadn't said one word to her. In fact, ever since the farm Yang had been acting a bit distant and she had no idea why her partner was like this. She tried to get a moment alone with Yang but Blake could never find the right time. Yang had either gone out, with someone or never seemed to stay in a room for too long.

For the entire ride they had been silent as Blake felt more uneasy as more time went on. Yang seemed to be focused on the road that went near the facility. It was a dirt road but from Yang always bragging about her bike while at Beacon, Blake knew it could handle the rougher roads. It had done well in the snow on the way here after all.

Still, Blake really wanted to know what was wrong between them. When they were getting close to the facility Blake tapped Yang on the shoulder and pointed to a section of trees. Yang pulled over and as it stopped, she looked back at Blake.

"Why the stop?" Yang asked.

"This is close enough," Blake said getting off the bike. "I'll have to go the rest of the way on foot so we aren't seen by anyone."

Yang shrugged looking at her back turning it off. "Guess I'll wait here then."

Blake paused as Yang was avoiding looking at her and she was torn on what to do. So she finally asked the question that had been bothering her for some time now.

"Yang, are we okay?" She asked.

Yang was about to just say that 'they were fine' because she didn't feel like going into it but then she remembered Weiss' words from last night. She quickly thought it over and decided she might as well get this over with.

Looking at Blake with a slightly angry look she asked her. "Do you remember what you said to me in the barn?"

Blake blinked not sure what Yang was getting at. "Well we talked about a few things."

"Yes but do you remember when you said that you would 'protect me' right?"

"Yes, of course I would." Blake took a step forward. Was that was this was about? Did Yang not believe that she could protect her?

"I don't want to be protected Blake." Yang angrily told her as her fists balling up. "I want a partner not a protector."

"Yang I don't understand." Blake's ears fell flat confused.

"I want someone that will stand next to me, not someone that will stand in front of me." Yang told her as her hands unclenched. "I spent so long trying to get out of a dark place Blake. I was terrified of everything, I had nightmares every night for months. I couldn't even leave my own home and stayed in the quest room for so long just sitting there in my misery."

"It took so much to get out of that dark place I was in, I'm still not over it all. I still feel terrified at times but I don't want to be treated like some broken thing Blake. I want to get better and treating me like I'm made of glass isn't helping."

Yang stared at her partner in the eye. "If you want to help me and you really want to be my partner again you have to be ready for me to get hurt because I will get hurt again Blake. What we're doing, what we're facing, there's no way anyone is coming out without taking a few hits."

"But I have to move forward Blake, I can't stand back and let others go out there and fight for me. I should have left with Ruby but I couldn't and I still hate that my little sister left to do something about what happened while I was too scared and too hurt to go with her. I will never forgive myself for that Blake and I refuse to let this fear control me."

Yang took a calming breath as she felt herself getting worked up as those old feelings from being stuck in that room was building up inside of her. She pushed it down and away, she never wanted to feel like that again. Helpless and alone in the world, those first few months were like a waking hell for her that she never wanted to return to.

"Yang, I'm sorry…I…" Blake wasn't sure what to say after all that. "You got hurt because of me."

"No, I got hurt because I just jumped in without thinking," Yang rubbed where her mechanical arm and flesh met. "But I don't want you to make the same mistake as me Blake. I don't want you to just jump out in front of me and get killed trying to protect me like that."

"I don't want to see you die like that, do you have any idea what that would do to me? Because I do, I've seen in Jaune."

Blake looked up sharply at that as she looked at Yang and could see how the other girl had a sad look on her face.

"I've seen what Jaune has gone through losing a partner that died trying to protect him Blake. Please don't make me go through that as well."

Yang looked at Blake. "Please Blake, I need you to stand beside me from now on as my partner."

Blake wanted to say something but her it died in her throat. She wanted to tell her that she would do that, that she wanted to do that but she wasn't sure if that would be a lie or the truth. She still felt guilty about everything. About getting Yang hurt, about leaving her alone at the worst moment in her life. She wanted to protect Yang but she wasn't sure she could just sit back and let her get hurt again.

In the end she just nodded her head and quickly went off to her mission, she needed time to really think about all of this. She needed time to accept that this is what Yang wanted and maybe what she needed. She hadn't thought about what Pyrrha and what she had done to Jaune or that she was doing the same to Yang.

She too had seen how hard things have been for Jaune, she had seen how losing his partner had affected him. Blake suddenly thought about if she had died to save Yang what it would do to her. Yang had been through enough and the thought of putting her through more was a horrible feeling in Blake's stomach.

But first she had a mission to do, she had to focus on what was coming up. She was actually looking forward to it as it would allow her to push things aside and focus on something else at least for a moment.

Blake snuck through the woods as she saw the trees give way to an open area she stopped. She got onto her belly and crawled the rest of the way. This would help avoid anyone seeing her as she reached the edge she took a look. There was the tower, it had a security fence around it but it wasn't too high at least for her. With her aura enhanced strength with a few clones she could easily get up and over it.

She saw the guards posted around the facility, there didn't seem to be that many. Staying in the grass she waited as she tried to put everything to memory. How high the fence was, how far it was from the tower, how many guards, their patrol routes, how they patrolled the area. As she did, she went over the plan forming in her head on how she would do this. She would have to take out the outer patrol first, then hop the fence, take out the lower guards and then quickly get up to the top where the last of them where.

She would have to do this as quickly and as quietly as possible because if just one of them got an alarm off that would make everything so much more difficult.

So as she planned in her head focused on what she would have to do, she didn't notice a shadow behind her.

The shadow had been following her for awhile now just watching and waiting. Waiting for the moment she would be alone and then strike but that wasn't now. He could tell that Blake was up to something and she was casing the tower. Obviously it was for a reason and that would be it.

The train had been too public and her team had been all there. He had slipped off the train when he saw them cut it. So he jumped off, it hadn't been hard to follow them in the snow and the blizzard masked his presence. He had stayed in the barn while he waited for the right time. The house they had been in was too defended, with the storm he would have to break in and he had seen a figure by the doorway almost on guard.

He was patient, he had waiting this long. He had stayed mostly out of sight the time they had been around the farm. The blonde one had seen him but he quickly vanished and from what he guessed she most likely had thought he was an illusion.

When the farm had caught on fire that had taken him by surprise, the Grimm there hadn't noticed him but he had taken off to the forest. It had been a long walk to the city but he had gotten in and had been searching for Blake and the others. Taking to the rooftops he spent the better part of a day looking for her. It was by pure luck he had seen her and that blonde on a bike heading outside the city.

Keeping up hadn't been easy but the track from the bike left behind made it easy enough to track.

Now his goal was nearly in sight, the case had left him tired and a fight now wouldn't be to his advantage. But now he knew she was coming back here, all he had to do was camp at the site and wait.

"Soon Blake," Adam whispered to himself slipping away.

 **TBC..**

 **I want people to keep in mind that if you don't sign in, I can't respond to your questions as you leave me no way of contacting you. I don't respond to reviews in my chapters anymore and I only reply to reviews that are signed as it goes straight to that person.**


	26. Chapter 26: The Final Day

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 26: The Final Day**

As everyone waited for Blake and Yang to come back everyone was preparing in their own ways. Some were making sure they had everything packed up, some were helping Saphron around the house after all her family had put up with them the entire time. Weiss was looking up stores for the ear pieces they would need. It all hinged on what Blake said about the tower, if she could get in by herself or not. If not, then they would have to plan around it maybe have Yang go in with her or send more of them over just in case.

Ruby was doing some maintenance on her weapon she wanted to make sure every part was in top shape for what was going to happen. Although she loved her, weapon to death it was a lot more complex than most of the other weapons of her friends. The size and transformation sequence alone took her months just to get the prototype working. Over the years, she had refined it and she was pretty sure it was the best she could make her weapon.

Currently she was in the basement of the house, she wanted to use the guest room but Weiss told her not to. Weiss didn't want her to make the room smell like lubricant and weapon protection spray. Ruby didn't see the point, she liked that smell, it was the same rule that her team had done back in their dorm room after all. Even Yang didn't want the room to smell up like that back at school and in their room back home.

So here she was in the small basement on the floor with a tarp out and her precious weapon in pieces in front of her. She had just finished taking it apart and cleaning all the bits now she was carefully putting it together as she looked for any issues. Anything that might be out of alignment or parts that looked like they were wearing down.

Given all the up close and person, she got with it in its scythe form she had to be careful about parts taking on too much strain. Even the sniper function if she fired too much too fast could overheat the barrel for instance causing it to warp slightly throwing off her aim. When you went with a sniper, precision and accuracy were the top things you needed.

She heard someone coming down the stairs.

"Ruby, you down here?" Oscar's voice called out.

Ruby froze for a moment as her hands froze in place. Ever since yesterday, she felt weird around Oscar. She had trouble looking him in the eyes and her stomach always did this twisted and loopy thing lately.

"Y-yeah, I'm down here." Ruby's voice wavered and she hated that her voice did that.

' _Come on it's just Oscar there's no reason to feel this way,'_ She mentally told herself. _'Normal knees remember?'_

"Hey, uh, I had this issue and everyone I talked to said you were the one to talk about it," Oscar scratched the back of his head as he finished walking down the stairs slightly hesitant.

"They did?" Ruby asked keeping her eyes on her weapon parts.

"Yeah see I have no idea how this thing works," Oscar pulled out the cane as he flicked the switch as it extended. "The thing is I think it's making a weird sound and I don't know how to check or fix it."

Ruby looked at the weapon, as she now very interested in looking it over. This was Ozpin's weapon and from what she saw it had been passed on from host to host for who knows how long. She could tell that it was well crafted and cared for but she was also very curious about it. She had never gotten her hands on a weapon this old before.

"Everyone says you're the best for weapons so I was hoping you could help me figure it out." Oscar admitted.

"Oh sure, I was doing maintenance on Crescent Rose so I'd love to take a look at this with you." Ruby made a spot on the tarp as Oscar sat next to her placing it on the empty spot.

Ruby studied the device digging out her tools as looked for the usual things for a weapon. Latches, screws, things like that and how it was put together and possibly taken apart.

"Too bad Ozpin isn't talking to help out with this." Ruby stated as she thought she found how to start taking it apart.

"Yeah it would be nice," Oscar said in a slightly bitter tone.

Ruby paused looking at him with a little concern. "Are you okay?"

"I just feel, I don't know. I feel like I was left holding the bag and now I'm just left to drift in the wind." Oscar sighed looking at her own weapon. "I don't know anything about weapons let alone how this is supposed to work. It's not even really 'mine' since it's Ozpin's weapon. I can feel how familiar it is when I hold it but it still feels like it's something totally foreign to me."

"I can see that." She stated getting the case open.

"Really?"

"Yep, see I built my weapon from the ground up. I know every bit of it. My weapon is a part of me that way. You didn't build this so that's why you got this weird disconnect from it."

"Huh, makes sense." Oscar nodded as he watched her work. Her hands were so slim and yet she moved them with a steadiness and almost grace with the weapon. This had to be from years of practice to be so confident in her skills.

He smiled watching her work. "You really are amazing with how easily you're doing this."

Ruby's face warmed up casting a look his way before looking intently at her work. "Naw, come on anyone else can do this with the right training."

"I don't know," Oscar said. "Everyone I talked to said you were the best when it comes to weapons and I can see why. I don't know much, I only get vague feelings at times now but what I can see is that you really are skilled."

Ruby felt happy that someone was talking about her weapon skills like this. Her family and friends would sometimes say that she was a weapon fanatic or she spent more times on weapons than was healthy. It was just that she loved weapons, every weapon of a Huntsman or Huntress was unique to that person. Each one had its own personality and abilities making a nearly endless number of possibilities.

"Thanks, it's nice to hear." Ruby stated.

As a silence grew between them neither of them knew what else to say. Although Oscar had noticed that, the atmosphere between them had been weird since that kiss. He had actually been worried that he took things too far and now he might have ruined a really great friendship. Ruby would barely meet his eyes, not that he blamed her. Every time he found himself looking at her, he would notice things like how he liked her silver eyes. How her button nose was kind of cute, then he sometimes caught himself remembering how soft her lips were and it all went downhill from there.

"Hey Ruby?"

"Yeah?"

"Did, did I make things weird between us?" Oscar asked her causing her to stop.

"W-what do you mean?"

"Well things between us have been weird since…you know." He blushed unable to say it. "I'm just worried I did something stupid and ruined our friendship."

"What!? No, Oscar you didn't ruin anything!" Ruby told him as she shyly looked away. "It's just that, well it was my first time doing that and I have no idea how to handle it."

"I still find it strange, I mean you're amazing."

She only blushed even further at the praise, "Oh stop it. I'm not that special."

"You are to me," Oscar said and then realized how that sounded as Ruby slowly looked at him with wide eyes as he started to panic and try to explain himself. "I mean you're not that much older than me but look at you! You fight Grimm and are awesome at it too. You're a great leader and friend. I don't think I've ever met anyone like you before and honestly, I doubt I ever will."

"I've been learning a lot from you and I still have a long way to go but you've been helping me deal with a lot of, well pretty heavy stuff."

"That's putting it mildly," Ruby smirked. "I think we've all been dealing with a lot of stuff lately."

"Yeah but you're the first one to pull us out of it, you have this ability to just, I guess inspire people."

"Really? I just, well I just kind of speak from my heart," Ruby shuffled as she never really thought about that part of her. She just did what felt right and natural, she always figured being someone that inspired people were for great heroes and took time to have.

"Well maybe that's why it works so well for you," Oscar smiled gently at her. "I'm honored that I'm your friend and I don't want to mess that up."

She returned his smile. "Okay and for the record I like you as my friend too Oscar and I don't want you to think we're not friends anymore because of, well _that_."

Blushing slightly Oscar rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks, that means a lot to hear that."

He decided that if he was going to learn to be a Huntsman he needed to learn how his weapon operated. He could wait around for Ozpin to come back but he felt it was more important that he do this himself. Because then it would be _his_ skills and not because of someone else's that he did it.

"So can you take me through how this works?" Oscar asked.

"Sure thing," Ruby beamed glad that someone was taking an interest in weapons.

 **-Later-**

When Blake and Yang got back Blake told them, she had a way in. She had planned in her head how to get to the tower and shut it down. It wouldn't be an issue. Therefore, by this point everyone had finished polishing off the plan. It was risky but by this point, everyone felt this was their best shot at getting to Atlas.

The next step was supplies for the trip as well as the communication devices. Saphron told them of a mall nearby that should have pretty much everything. It turned out she was right as everyone found a two-story mall inside of the city. Oscar and Maria stayed back with Qrow this time out, Maria because she said she was too old to go running around town on errands. Oscar stayed to help Saphron around the house and Qrow.

He was strangely gone, Ruby was a bit worried he might have slipped off to drink again but he actually just needed some time to think to himself.

"Damn this place was here the entire time?" Yang asked a little disappointed they didn't have more time. The time they had in Haven seemed so far away but it hadn't been that long ago. Still she wished they could have taken some time to relax and a breath. She could already see a day of shopping with the girls, maybe an afternoon with Jaune as well.

"Yeah we totally could have just hung out here for a day," Nora sighed also disappointed in now being able to enjoy their time in Argus more.

"Well what's first?" Blake asked.

"We'll need some supplies for the trip," Jaune stated thinking about it. "We'll need some food as it's a few hours flight, maybe some other stuff? Should we get warmer clothing now or later?"

"I would think later," Weiss offered her thoughts on it. "Atlas has plenty of clothing options when we get there."

"Less stuff for us to carry as well," Blake nodded as they already had enough with the bags and they would have to fit Yang's bike on it as well. They were pretty sure it could take the load but if not maybe see if Saphron could keep an eye on it for them?

"Maybe you should get some airsickness stuff?" Ruby asked Jaune.

Jaune's shoulders slumped remembering his airsickness. "Yeah that might actually be better."

"Yeah you're my boyfriend but if you throw up on me again…" Yang let that hang there.

"It was the one time, we didn't even know each other then!" Jaune threw his arms up in frustration. Would they never let him live that down?

"Okay you guys can deal with that while we deal with getting what we need for communications," Weiss stated as she had noticed an electronics shop nearby.

With that, JNR went to get general supplies while RWBY went for the ear pieces. Weiss was able to find just what they wanted, although the price normally wasn't something she had worried about in the past. Ever since leaving her home she was finding out what living on a budget was like. Sure, the money from that account Ozpin had in Haven was helping to make sure they could get to where they were going and buy stuff they needed but it was still limited.

By the time the team was finished they had a set for everyone. Now they just had to link them to their scrolls and set everything up when they got back to the house.

"So we got everything?" Yang asked before they met up with JNR.

"Actually, Yang can you get me some female stuff," Ruby blushed looking at a particular store.

Yang rolled her eyes. "Ruby you got to learn how to buy that stuff yourself."

"It's embarrassing!"

"What did you do when I wasn't around on your way to Haven?" Yang asked her little sister. She had been buying this stuff for Ruby ever since she hit puberty. She had been thinking that when she had joined Beacon Ruby would finally do it herself. Then Ruby had gotten in with her and then put on her team and Yang had that duty all over again.

"Nora helped," Ruby admitted.

Yang rolled her eyes. "Anyone else needs some?"

"I…could use some more," Weiss shifted.

Yang looked to Blake who shook her head, at least that was one down.

Yang nodded as she went to the nearest drug store section of the store nearby. She easily found what she needed, one of the things you learned when living with a bunch of girls for months is what they used for these kinds of products. She kept going as she passed the family planning section and paused.

She saw the packages and she quickly looked around. No one could see her and she took a closer look at the packages. The packages were condoms and after last night, Yang was seriously thinking of having some on her when she and Jaune decided to have sex. It was odd how she went from 'if' to 'when' now. She thought about it and yes, if she was going to have sex she wanted it to be Jaune.

He had been nothing but a gentleman, at least when it counted. She smirked at how things had gotten very heated last night and how that was anything but 'gentlemanly', which was good too. A noise of someone walking by caused her to look away at other products before they passed the aisle she was in. She wasn't sure why she felt nervous about this, she had tampons on her basket after all but that was something women needed. This was something that shouted 'hey this person is having sex' to the world even though she wasn't, yet.

Taking a breath, she figured just 'to hell with it' and wanted to get it over with as fast as possible. The problem was what was she supposed to get? Reading the packages, she found there were sizes but what the hell was the difference between medium and large? It's not like there was a size chart and she wasn't even sure what size he was. She saw flavored but she didn't think she needed that. What was the difference in brands and other stuff that she never even heard of before? There were some that said extra lube, some with ribbed, just what that hell

She paused and she wished Rose had still been alive, this was the kind of thing she could have gone for a mother for advice in boys and stuff like this years ago. She doubted her dad would have been able to go into this much depth, not that she would have wanted to anyway. Given the trouble that happened when she had her first period, yeah that was not happening in her life asking her dad for advice on anything sexual. She couldn't see her asking Raven for advice for anything at this point even if Yang ever saw her again. She really wished she had an older woman she could go to, some kind of mother figure in her life.

Hell, she would go with Blake's mother Kali, she seemed cool and would have been great to talk to. Too bad she was miles away and out of range of her scroll.

Yang just grabbed one that she guessed was good enough and placed in in the basket. She felt like it was her first time buying stuff for her time of month all over again. She hated that embarrassed feeling and the uncertainty. She grabbed a few other little things and got up to the cashier. It felt like it took forever as each item was taken out and scanned in. Yang crossed her arms giving a neutral look hoping the salesperson wasn't going to give her any kind of grief about her purchases, especially a certain box.

There was a slight paused, at least to Yang's mind, when they got to the condoms. Was there a glace at her? She wasn't sure, maybe her mind was playing tricks on her. Was the person behind her looking at them?

Damn it, she hated how paranoid she was getting about this. It was just a stupid box why was she worked up about it?

Finally, everything was paid for and she left the store to catch up with the others outside. She felt her heart rate going down as she quickly pocketed the package into one of her pockets before anyone saw her.

"The things I do for us," Yang muttered. "After this Jaune, you're getting your own damn ones."

 **-Later-**

The girls were getting ready for bed in the room they shared. There was a nervous air about everyone as tomorrow was the day they would start their operation to steal an Atlas airship. Everyone was feeling a little on edge given that if they screwed this up, they could all be faced with some serious prison time to say the least.

Yang had just changed and already was starting to feel like she wanted to pace around or something. She tried to clear her mind but she just kept thinking back to what they were going to do. Maybe it was because she had the least to do. All she had to do was drive Blake to the tower and drive them back if everything went right, if it didn't go right then she was the backup.

Weiss had a harder time as she had to go inside the base with Maria in a large suitcase and hope they didn't check her luggage before she got onto the plane or they decided to put Weiss in cuffs and put a security detail on her on the flight back. Yang was pretty sure they wouldn't go that far, they seemed pretty interested in getting her back and if she went 'willingly' they might just let their guard down.

"Hey Yang?" Nora sat down next to the blonde on the floor.

"What's up?" Yang was just finishing putting her hair into a ponytail for the night.

Nora fidgeted a bit as she whispered to her. "I've been thinking about what you said this morning. You know about the whole sleeping with the guy you like?"

Yang nodded her head with a bit of a smirk she could see where this was going and it might help distract her thoughts. "So are you going for it?"

Nora nodded her head she had been thinking all day about it. "Tomorrow's a big day and if things go well or not, either way we might not get much time to ourselves and I kind of want to spend the night next to Ren."

Yang had to admit, spending this last night with Jaune was starting to sound like something she could use. He had this calming presence about him and that's just what she needed at this moment. Looking at the slightly blushing Nora she felt she knew exactly where the girl was coming from.

"What are you two talking about?" Weiss sighed on the bed she could hear the two whispering and it was preventing her from trying to relax before going to sleep.

"Couple stuff," Yang told her. "Sorry but only those with a significant other can get involved. And since you're still single, Blake's guy is halfway across the world that's it."

"Wait how come I'm not listed?" Ruby asked.

"Oh did you and Oscar reach a new level in your relationship?" Yang teased.

Ruby's face lit up bright red. "Yang! For the last time we're just friends!"

Although Ruby was still remembering their talk earlier today, yes they were still friends. So why was it she kept thinking of that kiss even after their talk with Oscar? They had spent the morning working on their weapons together and she found she enjoyed her time with him. He was eager to learn about her and listen to everything she said about weapons even when she knew some of it was going over his head.

She just felt so confused and conflicted about things and she wished there was someone she could go to about it. She thought about Weiss but getting a moment alone had been a bit impossible today. Maybe Blake would know? She was always reading books about people so she should have a lot more ideas about it, right?

All Ruby knew was if she started to talk to Yang about this, well the teasing would be even worse.

"Does this have to do with why you didn't sleep in the room last night?" Blake cautiously asked.

"Wait," Weiss sat up more awake now. "I thought Yang just got in late and got up early?"

"Yeah same here." Ruby nodded.

"I woke up in the middle of the night and noticed she hadn't been back," Blake explained.

Now everyone but Nora was looking at Yang with an expecting look.

Yang sighed, well it wasn't as if she was trying to hide things but she just wanted to keep this personal because well it was personal. She could make up some kind of lie but honestly, they would find out sooner or later as she was starting to think that maybe sharing a bed with Jaune could become a bit more common for them.

"I spent the night with Jaune." Yang stated as a matter of fact.

There was a moment of quiet as they all processed that, it was Weiss that broke the silence.

"You slept with Jaune!?" Weiss' eyes widened in shock she had no idea things had gotten so far.

"Ewww," Ruby made a face. "I don't need to know what my male-best friend and big sister are doing things like that."

Blake was still silent but for a slight blush on her cheeks.

"It's not like that," Yang defended. "Yes we're sharing a bed but we haven't had sex."

Seeing the looks on their faces, she gave them the same thing she told Nora. "Look when you're with someone you, well you really like, it's like sleeping with the warmest security blanket in the world. It feels like nothing can touch you, nothing can hurt you and the tender feeling of them with you, well I can't really do it justice."

The three girls just looked at her a bit surprised such a thing came out of her mouth. Yang was rarely serious in the past but this was something they could tell was coming from the heart.

"That, sounds really nice," Weiss nodded her head with a small smile.

"Yep and I think I'll be doing that again tonight," Yang suddenly got up.

"Wait, seriously?" Ruby blinked.

Yang nodded, "Yeah I'm feeling too wound up and honestly I could use something to relax me for tomorrow. Don't wait up girls."

She waved to them leaving the room they noticed that Nora soon got up.

"Nora?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow.

The ginger blushed a bit. "Well it's such a nice night I thought to stay up a little."

The three girls weren't buying it from their similar expressions until it was Blake that spoke up.

"Nora if you want to try and spend the night with Ren, we'd understand." Blake smiled at her. "Tomorrow is a big day and if everything goes right then we have nothing to worry about but if it doesn't…well maybe if you want to spend tonight with someone you care with wouldn't be a bad thing."

"You think so?" Nora asked.

Ruby nodded, "Yeah I mean Yang made it sound nice and tomorrow is kind of a big day."

"Well you're old enough to do what you want," Weiss got back into the bed. "Honestly I'm just too tired and want to get some sleep."

"Good luck Nora," Ruby waved at her.

"Have fun," Blake smiled as Nora grinned and nodded back before leaving the room. The room felt a bit emptier now with just the three of them. Blake had to admit for a moment she kind of wished Sun was here. They had only just got together before they both had to split up. She got into her sleeping bag wondering what it would be like to be asleep on him.

Her face heated up as her ears twitched thinking about it. It felt like it would be forever if they ever got to Vacuo.

In the hallway, Nora watched as Yang went into Jaune's room as Nora went to the one next door that Ren was using. She placed a hand up to the door and nervously knocked. She felt butterflies in her stomach and yet she didn't want to run away. She had no idea how long she had these feelings for Ren, maybe they always were there and she just never admitted to them until recently. She wasn't sure all she knew was that Ren was the one for her.

He was the one thing in this life she was sure she couldn't live without. When the door opened there stood a slightly confused Ren looking at her. She took in his form, he was in shorts and a t-shirt that didn't really leave much to her imagination. All those times she had been rooming with him she had tried not to notice him. It was especially hard that one time Jaune needed to talk to him and pulled him out of the bathroom with just a bath towel.

She had tried to avoid eye contact but secretly she burned that image into her memory.

"Nora, is something wrong?" Ren asked.

"Oh no, uh, well, you mind if I come in and talk about something?" Nora asked fidgeting.

"I don't see why not," He let her in wondering why she was coming to his room. Maybe she was nervous about tomorrow, that made sense to him as he could feel how tensed everyone had been this afternoon.

While this was going on, Jaune heard the knock and opened it he wasn't surprised to see Yang there smiling at him. He opened the door and let her in as she made a way to the bed, flopping down onto it playfully.

"So this is a thing now with us?" Jaune asked getting onto the bed with her.

"What, you don't like sharing a bed with me?" Yang asked in a playful manner.

"No I like it, just wondering," Jaune told her as they cuddled up face to face. He looked into those lovely lilac eyes that stared back with such warmth in them. He reached up and caressed her cheek making her smile at the contact.

"You know if this doesn't work, we could all end up in jail, right?" Yang asked him getting a little serious.

Jaune sighed. "Yeah, I know, it's a huge risk. There's no guarantee when we get to Atlas they could just wave it off but I'm hoping General Ironwood can pull some strings."

"Here's hoping," Yang nodded and then smirked. "Think we could share a cell together?"

"I don't think we'd be that lucky," he said.

"Aww and here I was thinking of hot prison sexy times," she smiled with a glint in her eyes.

"Prison sexy times?" Jaune asked her.

"What you never went online and found some porn flicks of women in prison?"

His face grew red, "N-no, nothing like that!"

"Oh? Just what do you look up anyway?" She snuggled up against him making sure to press her chest against his.

"Yang that's a bit personal," Jaune was embarrassed. Like any healthy young man, he had gone online to watch those types of videos on his scroll. He was also very aware to clear his history, when you grew up with seven sisters there was hardly a lot of privacy and they could find anything he tired to hide in his room sometimes.

Yang rolled her eyes wiping a strange of hair out of his face as she looked at the man who had become handsome in her eyes. She felt a pull to Jaune more and more as time went on.

"Hey Jaune?"

"Yeah?"

"Wanna fool around a little?" She grinned at him capturing his lips sensually. He moaned into her mouth as his hands went to stroking her sides. She took that as a 'yes' from him.

Side by side, they kissed deeply, Jaune's hands found the small of her back pulling her into him as her free arm found his back. She ran her hand caressing his developing back muscles. The kisses started out gentle and loving but soon started to get deeper and more heated. Yang's tongue soon found its way into Jaune's mouth as both dueled for dominance.

Eventually both of them broke off from the kiss panting slightly, she could feel the hardness pressing against her and she felt eager for more. The problem was she left the damn condoms in her room and she still wasn't sure if now was the right time for this.

"Jaune?"

"Yes?"

"I know things are getting hot and heavy again," Yang ran her hand over his chest. "Truth is I want to do more but I don't know if I'm ready to go all the way."

Jaune nodded his head. "I know, this isn't exactly the perfect time. Plus, if we do, I want to do it right. I want to take you out on a great date first and maybe somewhere a bit more private and special for us."

Yang smiled at him, he always seemed to be the romantic type something she was starting to learn to like. The problem however wasn't going away, last night they both stopped before things got too far but it was getting harder and harder to stop. She wanted him, she wanted him to be her first and to be his. She bit her lip as something came to mind, it wasn't them going all the way but at least it could help ease the pressure.

"I have an idea."

"What's the idea?"

She turned around so that her back was against him as she could feel his hardened member between her butt cheeks as she wiggled slightly making him groan.

"Yang, what are you doing?" He asked feeling her shapely ass doing that against a very sensitive part of his body was not helping him out.

"I figure we could take care of each other," Yang told him as she took one of his hands and gently guided it to the hem of her shorts. "You can take care of me and I'll return the favor."

Jaune's mind nearly blew as the full implications reached him and how his hand was dangerously close to Yang's sex. Was she really telling him to do this? He felt his hand slowly being guided to across her stomach feeling the abs she worked so hard to have there. He couldn't help to think of her body as sexy, not an ounce of fat on her and very toned. Then his fingers brushed up against the hem of her shorts and he swallowed.

 **=M rated scene skip if you want=**

His heart was hammering a mile a minute as Yang slowly pushed his fingers under the material. He felt the soft skin as she guided him. He felt the mound of Yang's sex. It felt very smooth, maybe a few hairs starting to grow in but he felt the warmth coming out of the folds. Like a man in a trance, his fingers felt them making her moan.

"Inside please Jaune," Yang begged him thrusting her hips slightly forward.

"O-okay," Her nervously swallowed as he pushed them in. Yang gasped slightly as he pushed his middle finger inside. She was so warm inside, he never thought he would ever get this closer to a girl before but here he was fingering his girlfriend. He was actually pleasuring Yang Xiao Long a girl most boys at Beacon would kill at a chance with and here he was. In bed with her with his hand down her pants and her making small moaning sounds.

Yang felt Jaune starting to explore her insides as her hips made small movements with his hand. Soon they got in sync with each other as she started to pant. She felt him move her hair aside as he attacked her neck with his mouth. Yang had to bite her lip from moaning out in pleasure he was getting too good at finding her weak spots. She couldn't hold her voice much longer she didn't want the house to hear them.

She quickly grabbed the pillow in front of her face and bit into it moaning out into it. She felt his free hand snake around and was caressing one of her breasts in the way she had taught him how she liked it.

Jaune was lost in what he was doing, he could heard her moaning into a pillow and the taste of her neck in his mouth, the feel of her soft but firm breast in his hand and the growing wetness in the other was a near onslaught of stimuli. Her hips started to shake as she started to say something. He slipped in a second finger as she cried out into the pillow her hips jerking harder against his hand.

He was pretty sure she was moaning his name now into a pillow, something he never thought of before but the sound of her saying his name over and over, even muffled, was a bit of an ego boost for him.

It took him a few seconds to understand she was telling him to go faster. He increased the speed of his hands in her shorts as she cried out. Her robotic hand was gripping him as her leg was gripping the bed sheets. She started making these short high pitch cries and before he knew it, her whole body started shaking as she gave one long groan. He felt her inner walls tighten up and his fingers felt a lot more wet at the moment.

She let go of the pillow, "Stop, you can stop."

"Was I doing it wrong?" Jaune was suddenly very worried he might have messed up.

"Dude I just came," Yang breathed out. "Let a girl rest up after that."

"Oh." Jaune hadn't known that's what happened. Okay sure he knew the basics on sex, he had seen a few videos but this was the first time he had done something like this. Then another thought hit him, he made her climax. He Jaune Arc had just made his sexy girlfriend orgasm. Yeah he was feeling a bit proud of himself there.

After a few moments Yang felt her heart slowing down, that had felt so much better than doing it by herself. Was it just by doing it with someone else that made it better or was it because she was doing this with Jaune? Either way she was going to return the favor. After getting untangled she pushed Jaune onto his back as she got on top of him.

"You're turn." She smirked at him with hungry eyes.

"You don't have to Yang," Jaune offered. "I mean if you're not comfortable with anything else."

"Thanks but I need to do this, it's only fair." She was thankful he was understanding but now it was her turn. She wanted to do this, not only because it was fair but because she was a bit eager to give him the kind of pleasure he had just given her.

Reaching under his pants, she felt what she was looking for.

"Time to see if you're packing a long sword or a broadsword Jaune," Yang grinned feeling the hard member. She pulled it free and she had to admit, it was pretty big. "Damn I think this is more of a claymore."

She gently touched it with her flesh and blood hand, it was the first time she had ever seen one in person let alone touching one. She had seen vids online of course, some of them were larger but others Jaune put to shame. She marveled at how soft the skin was but under the skin, she felt the hardened flesh. The heat of it, she could feel the pulsing, as she suddenly knew it was his heart beat. She didn't know about that part and found it kind of neat as she slowly started to stroke her boyfriend.

Jaune grunted, as his fists were now the ones digging into the bed sheets. He had done this himself before but having Yang do it for him was a completely different story.

"How am I doing?" Yang said in a husky tone.

"Not so tight on the grip," He told her breathing harder as she started to speed up as her grip loosened up a bit. "Yeah like that Yang, god that feels good."

Yang grinned at that, she was happy that she was doing well giving the way he was reacting. Then she suddenly realized something. When he finished he would make a bit of a mess and she really didn't want to sleep in the same bed with him sperm all over the place. She quickly thought of what to do and there was only one thing in mind.

"You getting close stud?" Yang whispered.

Jaune nodded his head.

"Then let me finish you off in style." She let go of his now very warm member as she was glad her hair was in a ponytail so it wouldn't get in the way. Taking a breath she opened her mouth and to Jaune's surprise took it inside of it.

Jaune let out a surprise groan feeling her wet and warm mouth around him it felt even better than her jerking him off, better than himself doing it, better than anything.

"Oh god Yang," He moaned.

She stopped for a moment, "Not so loud we don't want to wake the whole place," then went back to her work. She was curious how far she could go, she went further down until she choked. Apparently she found her limit. How the hell did women in those videos get the whole thing down?

Jaune suddenly hissed out in pain as Yang stopped suddenly looking at him worried.

"Careful about your teeth."

Yang nodded as her head went back to bobbing quickly trying to get him to finish. She tried to keep her mouth more open so her teeth wouldn't scrape against his sensitive skin. It was a little hard but she tried just resting it on her tongue. What she didn't know was that using her tongue felt even better and sent Jaune off.

"Yang! I'm-ugh!" He tried to warn her but it was too much. Grinding against her while feeling her up, her jerking him off and now this, it was just the last straw as his hips jerked with each jolt of pleasure.

Yang was surprised by how much was filling her mouth. If she wasn't careful it would come out her nose she felt. Finally, he stopped and she pulled off him now with her mouth full of his sperm. Looking around quickly for something to help her out, she saw the small trash pin in the room. Getting off him, she went to it and spat everything out into it.

"Ugh, how to women swallow that stuff so easily?" Yang spat out more.

"You okay?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah just, I'm going to get some mouthwash in the bathroom. You clean up and I'll be right back." She smiled at him walking out.

Jaune saw the tissues in the room and used them to clean off the excess left behind. After that he went back to the bed after putting himself away.

 **=M Scene End=**

Jaune just lay there staring up at the ceiling completely stunned what had happened. Sure it hadn't been sex but it had been the furthest either of them had gone.

"Oh man that was…wow." Jaune shuddered a bit at the memory. If this was, a sign of things to come part of him was eager for more. Then there was that other part of him that worried about when they actually did go all the way. Would he be any good or would he mess it up? There was actually something else and that was his feelings for Yang.

Yeah he cared for her deeply but did he love her? How do you know when you're in love? He was pretty sure he was falling for Yang that much he knew but he had never really been in love had he? His thing with Weiss hadn't been love, he just really liked her and wanted to be with her. He cared for Pyrrha but she died before they even found a chance to see if what they had could have evolved into love. He didn't want to just have sex with Yang, he wanted to make love to her and he felt that he needed to be in love to do that.

Yang was different she was here now and with him. They were getting closer all the time and he wanted to make sure that when the day came. He could say the words 'I love you' to her before they went too far. He wanted to be someone that could give his love fully to her.

Yang came back into the room, "Oh that felt better. Good thing there was plenty of mouth wash."

She snuggled up to Jaune who wrapped an arm comfortably with her. She noticed he had on his thinking face. "What's going through your head?"

"You and us." He told her.

"Good things?"

"I hope." He breathed in the scent of her hair. "I can wait, I just kind of want to enjoy the moment."

Yang moaned snuggling closer that sounded like the perfect idea for her.

While they were getting comfortable and falling asleep not too far away another couple was awkwardly trying to find their own positions. Ren felt his heart hammering in his chest as Nora was facing him. They were on their sides as she buried her face in his chest holding him.

When she told him what she wanted Ren had been nervous, this wasn't something they had ever really done before. Sure, they shared a room but not a bed. It was a bit more intimate with her pressing up against him. His free arm wrapped around her smaller frame. He tried not to notice her soft assets pressing up against his chest.

Ren tried to center himself and just be in the moment with her. He heard her breathing, felt her light breath against him. He gently ran his hand along her back making her hum in contentment.

"I think Yang was right," Nora spoke softly. "This does feel nice."

"It…does have an appeal," Ren stated as the two of them enjoyed their time together.

 **TBC…**


	27. Chapter 27: To Atlas

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 27: To Atlas**

Jaune wasn't sure, where he was at the moment. He felt like he might be on his back and his body ached, he heard a slight ringing in his ears too.

"Jaune!" 

Was that Nora? Why was she yelling at him?

"Jaune get up! Are you okay?"

Up? Oh, wait he was on his back wasn't he, as his vision focused he saw the sky. As the ringing went away he heard other sounds, there was a fight going on. When were they in a fight? Wait it was coming back to him. The plan, it was today wasn't it?

As he started to push himself up his mind caught up to him as he started to remember the day. Everything seemed to have started well enough. Weiss had gotten into the base with Maria hidden in a suitcase. The aircraft had been taken and they had brought it back but something went wrong. Blake hadn't taken the tower down it just got worst from there. Cordovin had showed up, in a giant mech of all things. He remembered Ruby trying to reason with the woman but she wasn't listening.

They started to fight it but Jaune couldn't do anything, he was a short-range fighter. He had no ranged weapons and he felt useless. Then the robot had turned to Nora, she had been alone and he did the only thing he could think of he ran towards her and took the blow. He had used his aura to help shield her but he felt giant fist slam into him. Then he felt himself slam into something.

"Jaune are you okay?" Nora asked again helping him up.

"Aura took most of it but that hurt," Jaune said trying to walk only to stumble. Nora caught him as she helped him to get to the others.

"Things aren't going so good are they?" Nora asked.

"No but we've been in bad spots before," Jaune told her seeing the others gathered up. He was glad to see them all unhurt. He took a moment to look at what he hit and was surprised to see a giant rock. Well that explained why his back hurt so much. Good thing for both aura and the new armor he was wearing or that would have been much worse.

He could hear the others talking.

" _I think I found a weakness."_ He could hear Oscar saying in his ear.

"Well we're all ears." Nora said as Jaune limped back with Nora's help.

"Guys!" Ren happily said running towards them to give a helping hand.

" _The giant cylinder on the mech rotates and changes with every attack style."_

Weiss rolled her eyes. "We've noticed."

" _Right but her missile launcher doesn't pops out. Without the shields one good shot and it will explode."_

Jaune thought about it for a second and he was right. They had taken out the shield device on the back earlier in the fight so one good attack was all they might need. "One well placed shot and that whole canon should go right up, Oscar that's brilliant."

"Well that's nice and all," Nora looked to Ruby slightly concerned. "Can you make that shot? I mean I know you're a sniper and all but that's still going to be a tough shot."

Ruby thought about for only a second. "Yeah but in order to make it I've had to be staring right down the barrel."

"So she would have to be aiming right at you, with that huge canon," Weiss didn't like the sound of that but they were kind of short on plans at the moment.

" _Well I think I can do that,"_ Maria's voice came over the line next as she flew down next to them. Ruby jumped on as they watched them fly off.

"She knows what she's doing right?" Ren asked them, no one really gave an answer.

" _Hey Cordi, I got one missile left and I just know where to stick it."_

"I think so?" Weiss said hearing Maria taunt Cordova.

" _Only one? Well I got plenty!"_

They saw the mech line up the canon as it rotated again, now the missile box came out of the top.

"I think she's doing it," Jaune smiled seeing it happen. He could make out something red on the side of the airship and he knew that was Ruby taking a shot.

"Come on, come on," Nora whispered out.

There was a shot from Ruby but suddenly the missiles dropped as Ruby's bullet hit the armored section and bounced off. Everyone watching it suddenly felt their stomachs drop. That had been their one shot and Ruby missed.

" _Did you really think I would fall for that!"_ Cordova's angry voice was heard as she changed weapons to attack them again.

"Pull up!" Oscar cried out as the ship lifted but not in time. The beam weapon from the cannon just grazed the craft. The electrical dust from the attack started to wreak havoc with the systems. Unfortunately, since Maria was holding onto the stick the electrical discharge hit her too. She felt electric shock but it was her eyes that took the worst of it as the mechanical systems were going crazy, her vision was all over the place now.

"Damn it I can't see now," Maria knew her eyes could be reset but it would take time and they didn't have any. "Kid you got to take control."

"What!?" Oscar took the stick in the co-pilot seat as he pulled up. _'Oh god, oh god, oh god! This is crazy I don't know how to fly this! I'm going to get us all killed!'_

"Damn it we're going to crash!" He had no idea what he was doing and it was going to be all his fault that they died.

' _ **You won't die if you let me help,'**_ a voice in his head said.

' _Ospin!?'_ Oscar wasn't sure he was so glad to hear that voice in his head again.

' _ **Just pull back on the stick and lower the power,'**_ Ozpin explained. _**'This is going to be a bit rough landing but we will land.'**_

' _Okay, I'm trusting you.'_

Jaune and the others watched as the ship crashed into the forests. He held his breath waiting to see if there would be an explosion or something like in the films. Finally after what seemed like an eternity Ruby walked out as Jaune felt like he could breathe again. Then he saw Ruby walking to the edge of the cliff they had been fighting as she stared down the giant robot across from her in the sea.

"Now you see the power of Atlas, stand down." Cordova continued.

"No!" Ruby told her defiantly as the others were too stunned to do anything but watch. "We are going to Atlas, we've come too far and have gone through too much to stop here. We've all had to deal with so many burdens and have had every obstacle thrown at us but we're not giving up and we're not going to let you stop us."

"I just don't understand why you're stopping us anyway. We should be all on the same side to use our powers to help people but you don't. You just use it to look down on others, we're sorry we stole but it wasn't like you gave us any choice. You refused to help us and lives are on the line. I'd do it all again if it meant we could help people."

"Now I'm giving you one last chance to stand down and just hear us out."

There was a pause from Cordova, as it seemed like she might actually be thinking of something but then the mech started to raise its canon at her.

"Have it your way," Cordova said coldly as the canon was just past the cliff face and only at best fifteen feet away from her.

"Ruby no!" Jaune shouted as everyone ran. Everyone was horrified at what was going to happen, even with full aura a person wouldn't be able to withstand that kind of attack. He quickly thought of what they could do but they were all too far away. The only person that could have covered that distance was Ruby herself. They tried though, they had to try and save her they wouldn't let another friend die.

Then Ruby jumped and using her semblance, she turned into a crimson missile flying through the air right into the canon.

"Is she nuts!?" Nora cried out.

"She's got a plan," Jaune told them at least he hoped she had a plan. He tried to think what she could be doing, he thought back to the fight as his mind quickly went over everything. Then he suddenly thought he had an idea.

"I think I get it," Jaune stated as realization hit him.

"Well don't keep us in suspense!" Nora told him.

"It's the canon, it springs out so if the raw dust just gets jammed in there." He stated.

Weiss' eyes widened as she caught up as she knew all about dust. "It will backfire!"

Just like they said as Ruby flew out of the canon, they saw the large canon explode on the inside, the structure didn't break apart but all the dust inside of it activated from the internal explosion. Electricity, ice and rock started to form around the arm as Cordova cried out in frustration. The arm with all that extra weight was now too heavy for the machine to lift as servos ground and gave out from the strain as the whole machine limped to the side as the canon buried itself into the water below.

"Weiss!" Jaune cried out.

"On it," She used her glyphs to slow down Ruby as they could see her aura flicker and fade out. The black symbols started to slow her decent as Qrow quickly got under her. He caught his niece who was limp in his arms. Looking her over she just looked to have exerted too much aura.

"Damn it kid, you're going to age me ten years older keep doing crazy stunts like this." He said.

"Did it work?" Ruby asked weakly.

"Looks like it kid," He smiled down at her.

Everyone gathered up as Cordova cried out in frustration as she kept attempting to pull the arm free.

"Guys!" Yang's voice was called as both of them ran up to everyone and they all noticed now the two of them were.

"Are you two okay?" Jaune asked as Yang ran into his arms. He quickly hugged her tightly as she seemed to be holding him tightly.

"Guys what happened?" Ren asked seeing how they were.

"We ran into Adam." Blake told them.

"Wait Adam, as in _that_ Adam!?" Nora cried out.

Yang nodded her head, "We…took care of it."

Jaune gently ran his hand over her back, he couldn't even guess at how something like this could have affected them both. He was about to say something when a terrible roar was heard.

"What was that?" Blake's ears perked up at that.

"Guys, look!" Ruby pointed out to the sea. There was a huge black grim the size of a building walking towards the city and it wasn't alone. It had a horde of Grimm behind it, it was like Beacon all over again with the Dragon and the Grimm with it.

"Look at what you've done!" Cordova chided them. "This was the only thing that can take on a Leviathan, the city's defenses can't stand against it."

"Oh no," Ruby whispered seeing it.

"And I thought we were having it bad," Yang said in horror at the sight in front of them.

 **-Earlier-**

Yang for her part was waiting by the trees wondering what was going on. She figured Blake would have been done by now at least she should have been. She was starting to worry something might have happened. Pulling out her scroll, she saw she was within communications range with Blake. She wasn't sure if calling her would be a smart move or not as Blake might be taking longer to be extra stealthy.

Then she heard it.

Yang wasn't sure at first but she thought she heard something, and then it happened again. Gunfire the echoing crack of the weapon was feint but she was able to catch it. Something was wrong, she just knew it now. Getting on her bike she made for the tower quickly, it didn't take her long to get there but something was wrong. There were Atlas people all about but no Blake. She heard the gunfire again and speed off in the direction.

Why had Blake moved off? Someone had to be here maybe Atlas had a guard that was tougher than they thought? She made her way in the direction hoping to find some trace. She caught footprints in the snow but they had huge gaps between the groupings. Mostly Blake using the tress but whoever was fighting her was using them too.

Then she saw it, Blake's white coat was there stuck to a tree. It had blown against it and now Yang gunned the engine trying to find her partner. She went in the general direction but soon lost track of any signs. She stopped her bike by a river and turned off the engine. She needed to hear for any sounds that might lead her in a direction.

"Come on Blake do something to get my attention." Yang whispered her heart hammering in her chest with worry.

A clanging sound she could just barely hear just above the sound of the water.

"Yes!" She turned on the engine and went to where the water ended. It was down there that was for sure. She didn't have time to find a safe way down, she would have to do something stupid and reckless she knew. She gunned her bike over the edge, she was able to see land below her some kind of natural bridge made of rock or something. She saw Blake and a dark figure near her she also saw that whoever it was they were perfectly lined up for her.

In the years to come, Yang would always insist she knew exactly what she was doing in this moment. That she timed things perfectly. Actually, it had all just been blind luck that she landed her bike on the attacker as she jumped off. She saw it hit him, and it was a guy, now she could see that much. Although her heart broke as she saw her bike's momentum keep going over the ledge and down into the water below.

That bike meant a lot to her, it had been a sweat sixteen present from her dad, he taught her how to ride it, how to fix and maintain it. She had a lot of good memories wrapped up in that bike, but Blake was more important now. She would morn her bike later but at least it did one last service for her.

Then she finally saw who it was, Adam. Only now, without the mask on his face. The burn scars of SDC literally branded onto his face over his left eye. Later when Yang thought back on this moment she started to understand a bit of what could drive a person to hate so much in life. Not that it excused any of his actions.

Her eyes widened seeing the literal bane of her nightmares in front of her. Her arm started to shake as the phantom pain from her other arm kicked in. She could feel the blade cutting off her arm in her mind. She almost could feel her nonexistent arm again just like the first few weeks after she woke up. She pushed it aside her arm was gone and now was not the time to have some kind of episode.

She felt the fear gripping her heart and pushed past it. Blake needed her now and there was no way in hell he was letting this psycho do anything more to her partner and friend. There was something else now too, she wasn't going to make the same mistakes as last time. She had people waiting for her to get back to them she had Jaune to get back too as well.

She thought of her 'talk' with Pyrrha's statue and she wouldn't let Jaune go through the pain of losing someone else again, at least not her, not here and certainly not now.

"You." Adam said with some venom in his voice.

Yang decided to reply with a shot from her gauntlet. He easily blocked it with his sword but it wasn't really the point with her. This was just the opening 'handshake' to him.

"Yeah, me." She told him flatly she was about to say something else until Blake fell her knees grunting. Looking over at her, she didn't look to be wounded thankfully but Blake most likely had taken a beating until she got here. Yang was just glad she got here in time, any longer and she would have lost her partner again this time for good.

"Take it easy, I got this."

"Yes Blake," Adam said getting up as his hair flashed a bit as his semblance took in that last blast. "I believe we have some unfinished business."

Yang waited for him, she wouldn't just jump into the fight like last time. She knew a bit more about that killer move of his now. She saw him making the first move as she got her guard up. He was fast, very fast in fact. Even after that hit with her bike, he had seemed to recover faster than she thought. He came at her swinging with his red bladed sword as she took the blows with her gauntlet and arm.

The blows were harder than she thought, he had power behind those attacks as she was forced back a step from them. He jumped up and did a small flip as he struck out with his sword and threw it. She saw it spin like a disk as she deflected it but as soon as she did, he was on her attacking with his sheath.

Before she knew it, he had picked up his sword, which had impaled itself into the ground and was attacking with it again. She had to get some distance as she flipped back, the fight hadn't been long but he had been pushing her for the entire fight so far. Well it was time to push back as she used the momentum of her gauntlet to launch herself forward. She got into her guard pose and dodged and counter attacked with boxing skills.

She always was better with punching than kicking, her father taught her everything she knew about fighting growing up and the Roll was one of the first things he did. She remembered how he had trained her to twist with the dodge to get more speed, to move her head with the weave in a figure eight, how to come out of it with a punch to try and blindside her opponent.

She got in a few hits and she kept on going, a straight jab, followed by a backhand, with an uppercut, which she then followed with a kick. Nothing that seemed to break his aura but he had to have felt that at least. He didn't stay down though as he came back just a ferocious as before.

Blake could only watch on, she had never seen anyone actually able to take Adam on one on one before she was still worried for Yang. Yang wasn't the only person to have nightmares about that night. Blake had them too she had them about Yang dying in her arms from not being able to save her. She could still remember the fear of that night as she had dragged her unconscious body through the battlefield trying to ignore the pain of her own wound in her stomach, hoping that Yang's aura held out long enough so she wouldn't bleed out from the wound.

Now though Yang was holding her own against Adam. The tide of the battle was turning in Yang's favor as she scored more and more hits on him. She had just finished firing several attacks at Adam who blocked them with his sword. She knew what he was planning on doing, he was gathering up the attack power to launch right back at Yang.

"His semblance is like yours," She warned her. "He absorbs damage with his sword and then launches it back when he's ready."

Yang paused as she actually took her eyes off Adam to look at Blake. "He gets to deal out damage without feeling it? That's the cheapest thing I ever heard of."

She had to alter her plan now, she launched herself back at him but this time she would try and avoid his sword. She had to keep moving, keep coming at him from angles that he wouldn't expect. She would use her weapon to change her direction in mid air and attack from a different side, she would get around him but in the end, her final attack he blocked with his blade as she saw it glow red from the impact. He forced her away as she landed close to Blake breathing a bit heavily as they shared a look.

Adam seemed to have had enough of this he charged up his sword in its sheath as with a war cry and unleashed its power.

Blake could only watch on in horror crying out to Yang as flashbacks to that awful night came back. There was a red aura of energy as it engulfed Yang. When the dust cleared, she was still standing, she had used her mechanical arm to block the blow but even the Atlas tech arm took damage. The front of the forearm slashed open in a few areas.

Yang felt her back foot by the cliff behind her from the waterfall. Any more force and she knew she would have fallen down there.

"Leave us alone," Yang told him as Blake got up looking like she was ready. "This is your last chance."

She wasn't sure why she was giving him an out, maybe because she just wanted him out of their lives, maybe she was just tired of him and the shadow of what he had done to them haunting their lives. Maybe Jaune was rubbing off on her or maybe her sister's compassion. She wasn't sure but she was giving him just this one chance and if he didn't take it that was it.

Adam could see her hand shaking and smirked at the sight. "That's a lot of bluster right there too bad you seem to be all talk. Look at you, I bet there's nothing you'd like more than to just run away. Afraid I'll make the right arm and left arm match?"

Yang's eyes widened a bit as she would be lying if a part of her was scared he would do something like that. Not that he would, because she was certain he would do something like that to her. Suddenly she felt the warmth of Blake's hand holding her own as her shaking stopped.

"We're not going to let you haunt us forever Adam." She told him.

"Oh so you're going to protect her from me now?" Adam asked.

"No," Blake said remembering what Yang had told her. "I'm going to stand with her together we're going to stop you because she's my partner. We're going to stand with each other, protect each other, and fight together."

Adam narrowed his eyes at them, "I remember you saying how you'd always be my side as well one day. We all know how that turned out, when things get touch Blake you run."

"Not anymore," Yang told him. "She's got friends now that have her back."

"And what I never did?" Adam asked them. "All those missions we were on, all the fighting we did together Blake did it mean anything to you?"

"What we did was wrong Adam," Blake told him. "We wanted to make the world a better place but filling it with violence isn't the way to do it."

Adam was silent a moment as he got ready. "Well looks like you've made your choice in all of this and I've made mine."

Yang and Blake got ready as the three of them launched at each other for the last time. One on one Adam would be a tough fight, but with them working together he now had to work extra hard. He attacked with his sword only for Blake to use her clones to get away and counter attack, and then Yang was on him. He tried to fight her off and when he did, Blake took up the gap in the fighting.

The two of them worked together to hit and fade, for the other to jump in as soon as the other wasn't attacking. They were keeping Adam unfocused and on the defensive as he searched for a way to either isolate one or wound one of them to take them out of the fight long enough for him to finish the other.

Blake jumped back finding her gun that she had dropped earlier and threw it at Adam holding the ribbon connecting it. Adam knew how Blake fought and easily saw it coming he had seen this move too many times to know how it worked. With a backhanded swing he sent it right back at her. Yang saw it and launched herself to catch it.

She then pulled Blake in a reverse of their normal move together as Blake swung in a large arc. Releasing herself she flew at Adam using the blade part of her sheath but again, he knew her style of fighting and blocked it. They locked there for a moment before he kicked her, hard.

Blake sailed back hitting the rock and nearly falling down the waterfall. She felt her aura break as she struggled to get back up. She knew that without her aura the next time Adam hit her it would stick, she had no safety net in this fight from now on.

"Blake!" Yang saw her friend nearly fall and how her aura had shattered if she had fallen she most likely wouldn't have survived it.

"You should be more worried about yourself," Adam told her. "Let's see if you're faster than what you were at Beacon shall we?"

For a moment Yang had a flashback to that night as now her whole body shook, she felt the blade cutting into her all over again as the fear gripped her heart.

Adam saw her shaking and smirked. "Yeah looks like you might not be but still, let's see."

He rushed forward knowing that her aura had to be on the low side as well, he could feel his own aura was low too so it was only a matter of who got in the first hit. He was determined to be the winner in this match. He sliced at her but she kept on dodging it, but he was learning. He was seeing how well she dodged and he just needed to get used to her speed and he would have her.

He managed to get in a few hit but nothing that broke it just yet.

Yang was sent to her knees a few feet away gasping for breath, her lungs were on fire from exertion but she wasn't done yet. Behind Adam, she saw Blake climbing up the rock face. She wasn't sure what Blake had planned but Yang was going to be ready for whatever it was. However, a plan was forming in her mind, she had taken many hits in this fight but she had actively been holding back her semblance.

She remembered what her dad said to her as she was in recovery in their training about how she relied on it too much. Well she would be putting it to practice right now, as Adam went on the offensive again, she blocked his sword strikes with her arm a few times as she got a few kicks to her body. Again, she was thrown away from the blow but her aura still stood.

"I don't know what she sees in you, you're just a cowardly human!" Adam roared as he used his semblance to send an attack wave at her. She blocked it again as the dust flew up around her. In frustration he jumped at her with an overhead strike aiming for her body, he planned to cut her in two with this attack but he felt his blade suddenly stop.

As the dust cleared, he saw in surprise that her metal hand was holding onto the blade as her eyes took on a blood red color and her hair seemed to glow as it on fire.

"Got you," Yang smirked at finally having an opening. During the fight she had found that he was too fast to use her semblance effectively, he would just avoid her attacks until her semblance ran out. But now he was totally open and couldn't move. With her other hand she gave him a huge punch to his chest as he flew back to hard his body dug a small trench into the rock and dirt ground.

Adam felt his aura fall at that point as he managed to push himself up. He saw that the other girl's aura flicker and fade apparently that attack had used up the last of it. So they were all on equal footing but he still had his sword, at least he thought he did. When he went to reach for it and found it gone he saw it in Yang's hand.

"I may not by faster but someone told me I needed to use my head more," Yang told him as she threw his sword away. He cried out as he made a move for it but that was when Blake jumped up over the edge of the cliff slamming a fist into his chin staggering him back. He felt himself nearly trip over something as both of them looked down to see Blake's broken gun. The blade had been broken in their fight before Yang showed up but without a weapon both of them needed it.

Both made a run for it as Yang saw the other end of Blake's blade behind Adam. She rushed for that as now it was a race to see who would get what. In the end, Adam wasn't as fast that day as Blake picked up her weapon and Yang picked up the blade as both of them impaled Adam from the front and near.

Adam felt them pierce his flesh, as he couldn't believe that this was how it all ended. He felt Blake pull out of his chest but the other blade still in his body. He felt odd as if he was watching this all happen to someone else. He could see himself moving forward, not sure, why he was or what he was doing. The next thing he knew he was falling, he saw the water and rock below him as he fell down.

Blake and Yang just collapsed into each other, holding the other and crying. It was the first time either of them took a life and it was also the fact that it was over. Adam would never haunt them again, it was a rush of emotions for the two of them as they just sat there holding each other as the emotions flooded out of them.

 **-Present-**

Everyone was aboard the airship now. They had stopped only long enough to pick everyone up and all their gear that they had stashed in the woods. They all looked on with dread at the leviathan Grimm coming with its army. The barriers that helped to protect the city from the sea were long pillars that made an energy barrier but they couldn't hold out against a Grimm of that size. It was like the fall of Beacon all over again with a huge monstrous Grimm leading a charge.

"Saph," Jaune said softly thinking of his sister and her family.

Yang's horrified eyes looked to the city suddenly. They did this they brought this about and now Saphron and her family, the family that took them in, helped them, would most likely die now. Yang felt sick to her stomach at the thought as she took Jaune's hand in her own not only for his need but her own as well.

After what she and Blake had just been through she wasn't sure she could handle the fact that Jaune's family might die because of them.

"I don't believe this," Ruby shouted as she threw down the small device used to communicate with the Atlas forces. "They won't even let us help!"

"Well what are we going to do then?" Jaune asked nearly pleaded. "We can't let them get into the city."

The beast had already taken down one of the barriers and was currently taking down the second one.

"What do we have to work with?" Ren asked. "I'm at half ammo."

"I'm at less than that for my grenades," Nora checked.

Weiss checked her weapon. "I still have dust in my luggage but my aura is running low."

"We all are on that," Jaune bitterly bit out.

Yang looked at her weapon her ammo wasn't doing much better but then when she tried to use the weapon in her damaged arm it wouldn't come out.

"Damn it, I think Adam damaged something inside my arm," Yang took a closer look. "I can't get the weapon out."

"There has to be something we can do right?" Oscar asked looking around. There was a grave silence in the craft. No one had a plan on how to save the day and they didn't know what they could do now. This whole thing kept reminding those that were there of the Fall of Beacon all over again.

Ruby however wasn't going to let this happen as she looked to her partner.

"Weiss do you have enough strength to get me over there?"

Weiss blinked as she realized Ruby wanted her to summon her Queen Lancer to fly her over to the Grimm. "I think so but what are you going to do?"

Ruby looked over to Maria. "Training under fire right?"

Maria nodded her head. "Well I was thinking of working up to it, just finding a simple Grimm to test it on but no time like the present."

With that, they watched as Ruby jumped onto the large white creature that Weiss summoned and mentally commanded it to fly Ruby to the Leviathan. They all watched out the front of the craft as she stood in front of the large monster.

"Come on kid you can do it, just feel," Maria told herself watching the young girl. This was a tall order but apparently, the girl had done this to a Grimm like this before from the stories she heard. Even in her prime that was a tall order to do but there was something special about this girl. There seemed to be a small shine of light but it faded out quickly.

"Come on you can do this Ruby," Maria watched, as suddenly there was a huge bright light. Everyone was blinded by it but while everyone was shocked, Maria was smiling and laughing. "That's the way Ruby!"

When the light faded, the entire creature was stone.

"Alright!" Yang cried out jumping and hugging Jaune.

"Way to go Ruby," Jaune sighed holding her close.

The mood quickly changed when the top of the stone shattered as the creature was still alive, it roared out as it tried to break free of the stone.

"Oh no," Blake whispered out.

"Can she do it again?" Nora asked.

Maria was about to answer when a familiar voice over a loudspeaker was heard.

"Then maybe I should take it from here," The voice of Cordova made everyone look to the side. From around the bend came her mech minus one arm.

"Kid you maybe have given me no end of trouble today," Cordova said as she charged her mech forward. "But you were right about one thing, I did join Atlas to protect people."

Cordova hated to admit it but seeing the young girl go out and stand up to an army or Grimm alone was something to see. She had no idea what that light was or what it did to that Grimm but with it stuck it left it wide open for her to attack. She might have lost her canon but the drill in the other arm was still here. She transformed the remaining hand into a huge drill as it powered up along the way.

She jumped her mech and buried it into the neck of the beast as it roared in pain. She buried it deep inside as the Leviathan died from the damage. The light also seemed to have taken out a good number of the Grimm, enough for her forces to deal with at least. She could have still gone after them but this was her primary concern.

"We can take it from here girl," Cordova told her as she moved her machine into the hoard as her aircraft came to be regrouped around them. "Come let's show the world the power of Atlas!"

Her men cheered as they started their counter attack.

By this point Weiss had called back her summons to get Ruby back into the aircraft. She stepped into it as the side door was closed.

Yang pulled her little sister into a big hug. "Ruby I swear if you scare me like that again…"

"Sorry but it was only something I could do." She smiled feeling her sister's warm embrace.

"Yeah that was amazing!" Jaune stated.

"No kidding, you nearly turned that entire thing to stone, that was awesome," Nora grinned.

Ruby blushed she still wasn't used to people praising her like this. She didn't like being in the spotlight and tried to think of something, anything to take it off of her. "Well…Oscar landed a plane! I mean he's never flown before."

"Actually I wasn't alone when it happened," Oscar explained. "Ozpin helped me out."

"Oz, he's back?" Qrow asked first.

Oscar sighed. "I've been trying but he's still locking himself away for now."

"Well at least he's still around I guess," Nora sighed as she just dropped into a seat. "I'm so tired."

"We all are," Weiss said dropping into her own spot.

"Tell me about it," Yang sat next to Jaune resting her head on his shoulder without the armor on it. He wrapped his arm around her as his hand gently rubbed her arm.

"You and Blake doing okay?" He asked.

"Better now," Yang sighed closing her eyes.

"I think we'll be okay," Blake sat on the ground resting her head against the hull of the ship. "At least in a bit, it's been a hell of a day."

"Putting it mildly," Ren nodded as she sat next to Nora who mirrored Yang to rest against her boyfriend.

"Things never seem to go easy for us do they?" Ruby sat down next to Weiss as the adrenaline was starting to wear off. She felt her limbs starting to get heavy as the entire day was like a huge weight had been lifted off of her.

"You kids get some rest," Qrow said as he sat in the front with Maria. He sat down as he pulled out his flask feeling the need for a drink but stopped himself. He remembered how Ruby had looked at him the last time he got drunk. That look of disappointment in her eyes came back to him as he paused.

Maybe he had been drinking too much lately, he was supposed to be the adult in the group but he had just fallen into drinking when Ruby and the others needed him most. He put the cap back on and placed it back in his vest. Sure he felt like he wanted a drink but he didn't need it, besides Ruby and the kids needed him more than he needed a drink.

"How long is the flight to Atlas?" Oscar sat down across the Ruby.

"Should be a couple of hours," Maria stated looking at the fuel to make sure they had enough given what they had already burned. By her estimates they should have just enough to get there with some to spare, as long as they didn't push the engines too much.

"Great, time for a nap." Nora sighed closing her eyes as she rested against Ren.

There was a bump, as Jaune started to look a little green from it.

"Sorry, turbulence there," Maria said back.

Jaune groaned wishing there wasn't more of that he hadn't had a chance to take any of his motion sickness medication.

Yang looked over and saw how he was doing. "Jaune I swear if you throw up on me again…"

"I'm trying not to," He got up and went to the bags. "I left something in here for motion sickness."

He looked through the bags as he tried to remember where he put it. Finally he found it as he opened it up and pulled out a water bottle and downed the pill. He sat back down next to his girlfriend as he really did hope he didn't throw up for all their sakes.

"You feeling better?" Yang asked, as there was another bump.

"Nope." Jaune groaned out.

Yang stretched out her legs as he patted her thighs, "Come on I know of a way to make you feel better."

"You sure?" He hesitated as she nodded. Jaune started to lie down on the ground with his head now resting on her thighs. They did feel really nice as he looked up and felt himself heating up at the sight of her chest right above him. Then she felt her hand running through his hair, he closed his eyes and signed just enjoying the moment.

"Does that feel better?"

"Yeah it does, thanks." He replied.

Yang smiled at she played with his hair as he rested. After everything, this moment right here was theirs and she wanted to enjoy it.

Blake looked over at them and had to smile, she had to admit that both of them were good for the other. It made her think of Sun and she wished he was here now, after everything she could really use him here. He didn't need to say anything she just wanted to sit next to him like how Nora and Ren were at the moment.

She wondered what he was doing at this moment, was he thinking about her like she was thinking about him? She hoped so, she wished he had come with them now. She knew the reasons why he hadn't made sense but she really could use him at this moment.

At least Adam was no longer something any of them had to worry about.

 **-Not Far Away-**

Cinder tried to make herself comfortable in the seat of the airship that Neo had. She wasn't sure if the mute had stolen it or what, most likely, it was stolen but that didn't matter. Cinder adjusted the large patch on her face. Her new clothing felt better than those rags she had been forced to wear ever since she crawled out of that cave. It had taken time to heal, get her strength back to the point she could hunt down little Ruby and her group. That girl had maimed her, stopped her plans more than once and now Cinder was going to take a lot of pleasure in killing that little red cape wearing annoyance.

Meeting Neo had been a bonus, once she was able to convince the little silent psychopath that her anger should be directed at Ruby. It was so simple to turn Neo's grief and anger to her advantage. So far, her plans were forming in her mind. With Neo, she had a way into Atlas as well as someone to help even the odds. She was originally thinking of hiring some cannon fodder but this proved more useful.

Still the other girl had no idea of Cinder's full plan. Sure, the plan was to kill Ruby but Cinder knew her mistress wanted the girl. If Salem found out that she had Ruby killed, well it wouldn't be good for her. That's where Neo came in, she could let the mute kill little red and just when her guard was gown that's when Cinder planned to strike. She would take out Neo and give her head (maybe literally) to Salem.

' _Oh I'm sorry Mistress I was trying to capture Ruby for you but Neo you see. She blamed the girl for her partner's death. I arrived too late but I took her out in revenge.'_ Cinder thought out what she would say. After all, there could be no witnesses and even though getting information out of Neo was problematic, it wasn't impossible though. Cinder would have to make sure there were no witnesses and her account was the only one that there was. It was a gamble, she knew that but it was one she was willing to take. She didn't have much else to bargain her way back into Salem's good graces at the moment.

Maybe she could take the relic they had? Or did Raven take it? Cinder had no idea what happened exactly after she fell into that pit. The only thing she knew was that one of them had to have it if Ruby and her team didn't then she would just hunt down Raven. Hell, she was going to do that anyway, Cinder now had a score to settle with that woman too. Maybe she would burn down her little tribe as well just to add salt to the wound.

Her musings were cut short when Neo seemed to see something and pointed at the ground.

"What is it?" She leaned over with her now only eye looking out. She thought she saw something black and yellow near a river. Neo suddenly took the ship down, as Cinder was about to angrily ask what she was doing but stopped herself, she wouldn't get an answer anyway.

When they landed Cinder followed the two toned haired girl as she lead the way to what looked like a wrecked bike.

"What? You want to keep it?" Cinder said sarcastically.

Neo rolled her eyes as she pulled out her scroll and pulled up a picture of Yang. She pointed to the picture and then to the bike.

"This is hers?" Cinder asked as she put it together.

Neo nodded she knew that bike as she since she had been shadowing Roman when he took that Paladin out on the streets and she had seen the blonde with the bike. She had seen it again when she had been disguised as a student at Beacon when Yang took it out for a ride a couple of times.

"If this is here then she might be close and where one of them is, the others are close by." Cinder's eye narrowed.

Neo nodded as they followed the river it wasn't long until they noticed blood in the river. It wasn't long until they came across a figure in black bleeding on the edge of the river. Cinder knew this person as she looked down at the form of Adam. He was bleeding from his back and front he also looked to have some other injuries like a wound on the head and his arm was bent in a very unnatural way.

"Adam Taurus, well this is a day for reunions," Cinder had a guess who did this to him.

Neo poked him with her umbrella to see if he was still alive. He groaned but didn't do much else.

"Think he'll live?" Cinder asked her.

Neo thought about it and did not have a confident look on her face as she brought up and hand and wangled it in an unsure manner.

"Yes he is in bad shape," Cinder thought about it, she could just leave him here to die. She wouldn't really care and there was no guarantee he would survive until Atlas. If he did, however, there was one man she could use to get him help and he would be a useful tool to deal with Ruby and her friends. Thinking about it she figured they really didn't have much to lose, if he lived he lived if he died then they would just toss the body somewhere to rot.

"Well let's see if we can improve his chances," She knelt down and grabbed the piece of the blade that was sticking into his body. She used her semblance to heat it up as he groaned in pain even if he wasn't conscious. She pulled it out cauterizing the wound as she did. She turned him over and used the same heated blade to the wound on the other side as he groaned again.

She was glad he didn't wake up hearing him most likely screaming out from the pain would just be annoying to her. Standing up she looked over her work. Some of his body was still bent in odd ways but he was still breathing and the worst of the open wounds at least wouldn't cause him to bleed out.

"That should help let's hope he at least survives long enough to be useful." Cinder said.

 **TBC…**

 **New Cover Art done by Perfilles Studio found at Twitter and Tumblr, see there for commissions for any artwork.**

 **Also this was a bit of a chore to do as I really don't like redoing canon stuff at times thankfully this should be the last of it. From now on I'm making my own Atlas arc, I may take in anything from the new season I like into it but mostly it will be my own stuff. So anyone reading this in the future, this was written before season 7 came out.**


	28. Chapter 28: Atlas

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 28: Atlas**

The flight had thankfully been devoid of any issues, after what they all just went through they needed a break. Qrow looked behind him seeing everyone napping he didn't blame them after all that they all deserved it. He saw Ruby and Weiss were leaning against each other as he grinned seeing Ruby drooling a bit on Weiss. That was certainly going to be fun when she woke up. Looking around Blake was out cold near Oscar, the boy he was sure was trying to get Ozpin to come out given how hard the boy had been concentrating on what looked like nothing.

Qrow really hoped Ozpin showed up again, not only did he have a few pointed questions for him but also they could use him for when they meet with Ironwood.

Ren was asleep as Nora was lying on the floor cuddling up to his lap as if it was a pillow. The final two were Yang and Jaune, the boy had fallen asleep on Yang's legs and his niece had eventually clocked out as well.

Looking at the two of them brought up old memories. Memories of a simpler time when he was just a student in Beacon and he had caught her sister Raven in a rare time when she let her guard down. He had found her and Tai in a similar position when they were dating in their final year by a tree out of the view of most students.

It was one of the few times he could remember his sister actually looking happy, he started to wonder just what happened to cause Raven to turn away from everything. She had always been complicated but did she find out the truth about Salem? Given that it caused him to nearly start drinking himself into an early grave, maybe she had learned it and just ran from it all.

Still, she left her family behind and that was something that you can't just ignore.

Looking at Yang in that moment he knew that she at least wouldn't end up like Raven. He wasn't sure if her relationship with Jaune would go the distance but looking at them now he felt they were good for each other at least.

"Something interesting?" Maria asked.

Qrow shrugged and turned around. "Kids are still asleep."

"Give them a few more minutes," Maria said with a smile. "They've earned it after today. Plus, I think a few of them are enjoying their time together."

"As long as it's not enjoying it too much at the moment," Qrow grumbled although he liked how Yang and Jaune were doing he didn't need to know about his niece's sex life if they had one. He really didn't want to think about that.

"Oh please let them enjoy it, you're only young once," Maria sighed. "I tell you there is one thing I would have done if I knew I was going to lose my eyes."

"Other then not be there that day?" Qrow asked.

"Besides that," Maria nodded. "I would have found a nice young stud and rode him for all he was worth."

"Crips Maria." Qrow chuckled.

"Hey, I will have you know when I was a young lady in my prime, I was pretty darn beautiful. I had men giving me looks all the time. Wish I had more fun when I did or at least had found a decent enough person to settle down with." Maria sighed thinking back on things that could have been. "I could have had at least a family by now. You know how hard it is to get laid when you got to be on the run from whoever hired those mercenaries after me and have big bug like mechanical eyes?"

She pointed to her artificial eyes. "Trust me when you find someone don't let them go and don't wait around. Before you realize it, you'll be old and alone."

Qrow was a bit somber hearing that. Then again, he was pretty sure no one would want him anyway, his bad luck would always get in the way not allowing him to stay in one area for too long.

"But hey," Maria spoke up smiling a bit. "At least before I kick the bucket, I get to go on one last adventure, and I also got to show that Cordova a thing or two one last time."

"Well looks like nap time is over," Qrow stated nodding ahead.

"Yep, better wake the kids." Maria nodded in agreement.

Qrow got up and got to the back of the open area. "Alright time to wake up everyone, we're here!"

Various people started to wake up as they looked around to regain their senses.

Yang felt something on her legs as she looked down and smiled as Jaune was stirring awake. She was glad that his air sickness wasn't causing him issues. Plus he did look kind of cute just sleeping but she was also starting to lose some feeling in her legs. Jaune opened his eyes looking up at the smiling face of Yang as he smiled back at her.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself," Yang responded. "Sleep well?"

"Actually, yeah thanks," he slid off her as he sat next to her watching her rub her legs. "Are you okay?"

"A little numb nothing major," she assured him.

He got up and offered a hand which she was thankful for as he helped to pull her up.

"Ewww! Ruby you drooled on me!"

"No I didn't! You can't prove anything!"

Yang and Jaune looked to the side and had to laugh as Weiss tried in vain to dry off the small wet area on her shoulder. Everyone got up and stretched out as they felt a lot better after that rest. They all crowded around the front of the ship to take a look outside.

They could see Atlas now, for those that hadn't seen it before, it was a sight to behold. Half the city all in white was floating above high in the sky. It looked like a gleaming city almost in the clouds as huge cables tethered it to the ground. Below the massive city was the huge creator that they had raised from there was a lot of smoke coming from said creator. Next to the hole was a shabbier looking city. It had a small wall around it but also what looked like some housing outside of the wall of all things.

The vast landscape was nothing but snow and mountains giving the whole thing a sense of isolation.

"Wow, they made the entire city fly?" Ruby said in wide eyed fashion. Although Weiss talked about being from Atlas she never really went into much detail about the place or her life there.

Weiss nodded, "They used a lot of gravity dust to keep the city up."

"What would happen if the gravity dusk lost power or something?" Yang asked her.

"It would most likely crash back down and given that it hovers over the mine, all that weight would destroy both parts of the city."

"Really?" Nora asked.

Qrow took it from here, "All that weight coming on down all of a sudden? Yeah the Upper City would be destroyed and the mines would all cave in."

"It's a bit worst than that," Weiss continued on. "The mines run deep and all over the place, even under the Lower City. If all the mine tunnels collapse than even the Lower City would start to fall into the ground in various places."

"There were some White Fang members I remember saying they should do just that," Blake shook her heads. "It was a minority as that exact reason of what would happen put a stop to that kind of talk. They didn't think about the consequences of doing something like that would mean to the Lower City where they had friends and family."

"You think that's where Salem will hit?" Jaune asked as everyone looked at him. "She already attacked Beacon and tried at Haven. If Atlas was on her list that would be the perfect way to not only destroy Atlas as a whole but it would stop a lot of dusk from ever being moved out again."

Everyone stood still at that thought. Dust was one of the reasons they had such a better way to fight against the Grimm, not to mention all their technology ran on it. If dust were suddenly gone, everything that used power would start to fail and weapons would have to go back to being just melee weapons like Jaune's sword.

"I take it that all that smoke coming out of that hole is from the mine then?" Nora asked.

Weiss took a breath as this was the darker side of her home. "Yes, that's the main dust mine for SDC. The town next to it is commonly referred to as the Lower City and…that's where all the workers that work in the mines live."

"Wait all the workers have to live there?" Nora asked looking at the dank and somewhat dirty looking part of the lower city.

It was Blake that answered, "Yes, a lot of Faunus live down there. You can start to see why the White Fang had an easier time recruiting from there. All day you have to look up at the other city where all the rich people live while they break their backs making them richer."

"Now you see why I give people from Atlas a hard time," Qrow stated. "I've been to both parts and neither one is a saint. Up above you got all the people who call the shots looking down on the world below them thinking they are better than everyone. Down below you have a lot of resentment and anger building at the world around them. A lot of criminal groups spring up from this making the Lower City more dangerous place to walk, not to mention all that negative emotions keep bringing in Grimm."

Weiss would have liked to have argued that point, but she really couldn't. She had never left Atlas before going to Beacon and it wasn't until she saw the city of Vale that her eyes started to open at how different Atlas society was. Being with her team also helped her to grow and take a new look at how things were in the world. Atlas wasn't all bad, but it did have its own problems that it seemed blind too.

Looking up at the upper city she felt like she could feel her father there and she didn't like that feeling. But since they were here for Ironwood then they would have to go there, the military was stationed in the Upper City. She took a breath, she wasn't going to allow her father to control her anymore, she had decided on that point. She didn't care what he thought about her now, she cut her ties to him the moment she decided to run off.

"Take us up to the Upper City," Qrow stated as Maria did just that.

As soon as they were closer enough something else became apparent, there was a huge military force stationed around the Upper City. Battleships flanked the city on all sides with support craft next to them.

"That's…a lot of ships," Jaune stated in awe at it all he had no idea Atlas had this many ships.

"Is it always like this?" Yang asked.

"No," came the same reply from Weiss, Maria, Blake and Qrow who had all been here before.

"It's like they're preparing for a war or something," Ren stated looking at them all.

"Damn it Jimmy what are you doing now?" Qrow said under his breath at the size of the fleet.

The radio came to life as a female voice was heard, "Manta 5-1, welcome home."

Maria motioned for Qrow to take this one, given that the last time she spoke they knew right away she wasn't an Atlas military member given her age. The others would sound too young on the line to pass either.

Qrow turned on the microphone, "Yeah, this is Manta 5-1, request clearance to land at HQ."

"Roger that, please respond with current passcode."

There was a pause as Qrow killed the microphone, "Well that's not good."

"You don't know the password?" Ruby asked.

"Why would I have an Atlas password?" Qrow asked her back.

"I don't know! You go all over the place so I figured you would have some kind of thing that let's you into other places or something."

"Well I don't," Qrow looked to Oscar. "I really hope Ozpin is paying attention and he has something."

Oscar waited a moment, "He's not saying anything…I think I'll take that as no then."

"Damn it," Qrow started to think fast because they could only stall for so long. "There hadn't been one last time I was here. Normally they would ask your business and check it out before landing not for a passcode."

"They must have tightened security," Blake surmised.

"Manta 5-1 send your passcode, you are entering restricted airspace." Came the warning.

"Well think of something and fast," Maria told him.

"Damn it…okay let's hope for this." Qrow turned it back on. "Sorry about that had to find it. Passcode is…Alpha-five-five-four…"

"That is not the correct passcode Manta 5-1."

"Sorry we're flying out from Argus and we weren't given the update with the CCT Net down." Qrow hoped that they bought it.

"I'm sending a flight to your position. They will lead you to landing bay at North Base, do _not_ deviate from the flight plan."

"Got'cha, uh…over and out." Qrow turned it off as Maria winced. "What?"

"You don't say 'got'cha' or 'over and out' on military lines you just say out." Maria explained.

"Will they be suspicious of that?" Ren asked.

"They already are, hopefully they'll think it's just an idiot on the comms." Maria sighed. "Now we got a bigger problem."

"What's wrong, we're going to the land at Atlas right?" Yang looked around.

"You heard them," Qrow explained. "We're going to North Base and not HQ and as soon as we land and they see that a bunch of non-Atlas people are flying one of their birds…"

"We'll be arrested," Weiss sighed.

"Well we could just wait in a cell until they tell Ironwood that we're here right?" Nora asked hopefully.

"If they tell him," Blake shook her head. "The problem is whoever is in command most likely won't believe us. When a report does come up to someone that might inform General Ironwood we have no idea how long we'll be in a cell for. Plus, all our stuff will be taken including the Relic."

"We can't let it out of our sight," Qrow said as he thought about what she had said. "We have no idea how far Salem's reach is, if she has agents here and find the Relic just waiting in an evidence locker it would be way too easy for it to just 'disappear' while we're waiting for someone to tell Jimmy we're in jail."

"There's another problem," Weiss said. "They'll process our identities and once they find out who I am, my father will pull everything he can to get me out and place me back under his control again."

Weiss felt a warm hand take hers as she looked to see Ruby looking at her with compassion. "We won't let that happen remember?"

Ruby looked out to see the other two aircraft coming closer. "So, if we can't let them take us so what does that leave us?"

There was a pause before Jaune spoke up. "We run, we try to lose them and land somewhere else and make our way to Ironwood by ground if we have to."

"Yeah sounds about right," Qrow nodded and looked to Maria. "You think you can shake them?"

"I'm more worried about our fuel, we burned a lot in that fight but if we can pull this off, I might have to land on fumes." She told them.

"Do it," Ruby said with a nod.

"Alright then," Maria grinned. "You all better strap in then this is going to get wild."

Everyone got into the back and started to strap their luggage down first so it didn't fly all over the place. Then they quickly strapped into harnesses on the side of the ship. By the time they were ready they were flanked on either side by an aircraft leading the way.

"Everyone ready back there?" Maria called out.

"Ready," Ruby replied.

"Alright everyone hang on because things are going to get wild," Maria grinned as she suddenly took the craft into a nosedive.

"Manta 5-1 what are you doing?" Came a new voice on the communications line.

Maria didn't answer as she dived as far down as she could, the other two started to follow her down. She banked hard right as she flew close to the buildings in Lower City. She dodged and weaved as best she could.

"Are you crazy?" Weiss yelled from her spot in the back.

"Relax she's knows what she's doing." Qrow assured her and then said to her. "You do know what you're doing right?"

"None whatsoever!" Maria cackled.

She went around as many tight corners as she felt she could get away with. The problem was there were two craft. One would pull away and get higher to report her position and then it would continue the chase if Maria got too far away from the other. She had to admit the Atlas pilots were at least well trained enough to use team tactics to keep from losing her.

Everyone in the back felt the tight turns in their spots, they would have been thrown around if they weren't strapped in.

"Woooo!" Nora shouted as she was actually having a good time as it was the best ride ever at the moment.

Jaune however was looking very green as his hand went to his mouth.

Yang saw this as her eyes widened in horror as she was right next to him. "Jaune don't you dare!"

He nodded his head but kept his hand over his mouth trying very hard not to throw up.

Maria tried a new tactic by pulling straight up, she saw the other two follow her and then cut nearly all the power to her engines. They started to slow and then fall backwards as they flew past them. She tried to kick in the engines again to fly off, but they pulled away and made a tight turn in opposite directions to get back in sight. She had gained some distance but not enough to lose them just yet but she had more tricks up her sleeve.

By this point the Atlas pilots were getting frustrated as whoever this was it was obvious, they were trying to get away. One of the pilots flicked on the small guns on the craft as he waiting, he couldn't just blind fire because the rounds could either go into the Upper or Lower City. He tried to line his shot for one of the engines and waiting until the enemy craft was out in the open and fired.

The rounds mostly missed but a few lucky shots got one of the engines.

The damage was bad enough, but Maria saw a new alarm. "Well good news and bad news. We won't have to be doing this much longer, the bad news is that we're about to run out of fuel."

"We still have to lose them before we land," Qrow said looking for anything to help.

Maria noticed something and it was the only option they had to both land and get rid of their pursuit. She went down again as everyone noticed that she was going very closer to the ground, actually it looked she like was aiming for the ground.

"What are you doing!?" Oscar yelled seeing the ground coming up at them. Even though he had been with her before while flying he was certain this woman was crazy.

"I got a plan kid," Maria then pulled up as they felt the bottom of the ship scrap the pavement with a horrible screeching sound and the whole ship shuddering. "Okay that was actually closer than I thought."

"Uh…you do know there's a tunnel in front of us, right?" Qrow asked her nervously as they were coming up to a tunnel. "You know we won't fit through that right?"

"Not all of us have to fit," Maria told him as the engines died. "Well now we're stuck with this idea."

Maria glided them in with their forward momentum carrying them. The entire ship shook even more as the wings of the craft were torn off. The center part of the vehicle kept going on for a but until the belly hit the ground. It skipped a few times before grinding to a long halt, sparks coming out from the craft as it started to roll a bit to the side as it started to turn.

Eventually what was left of the craft shifted as it wedged itself in the tunnel.

There was a long pause no one said anything as the power fluctuated making the lights flicker as some sparks came out of some areas. Some cables and even some panels had been knocked lose as the craft had taken enough damage to warp the hull of the ship.

Ruby groaned feeling like every bone in her body was in one of those paint shaker things she saw in a hardware store that time her dad took them to get some pain to repaint the house that one time. She thought she might have bitten her tongue a bit in the end there.

"Is everyone alive?" Ruby groaned.

"I think I'm going to throw up," Weiss groaned.

"Seconded," Ren said next.

Jaune was able to free himself and took a few steps before going to his hands and knees and emptied his stomach out.

"Well Jaune's got that covered," Yang sighed glad it wasn't on her shoe as she managed to get free and managed to kneel next to him and rub his back.

"Everyone else okay?" Qrow asked looking back.

"Think so," Blake managed to say.

Qrow nodded thankful that everyone seemed okay. He looked to Maria, but she was slumped over the controls and not moving. He reached out to shake her gently. "Hey Maria you okay?"

She didn't move or say anything as Qrow unbuckled himself as he placed his fingers by her neck for a pulse. Did the crash kill her? He had heard of crashes where the whiplash can snap a person's neck and given her age, he could see it happening.

"What are you doing!?" Maria suddenly shot up and groaned.

"Just making sure you were okay," he sighed.

"Don't kill me off yet," Maria said as she undid the harness. "Although anymore landings like that and I won't be. Not the best landing I've ever done but at least we're all alive and in mostly one piece."

"Right," Qrow grinned. "Alright if you can move, we better get going. Atlas will send in a ground team to track down whoever was in this and we need to get enough distance from it and us as possible."

 **-General Ironwood's Office-  
**

Winter Schnee was making her way to her commander's office, she had been given an emergency summons by him. She quickly walked as fast as she could without looking like she was running. The member at the desk looked to have been notified of her presence and nodded to her and let her in.

When she got into the office, she couldn't help but look at General Ironwood. She masked her emotions looking at the man. Ever since Beacon he had slowly been isolating himself and although his uniform looked pressed as usual, his physical appearance wasn't up to the usual standard.

While he kept his hair combed it was longer than regulations demanded and the beard, he had been growing also was a bit unkempt. Normally she would have known what this was about but lately he had been cutting even her out of his plans. Yes, there were times when she wasn't privy to information but that was the military.

If you didn't have a need to know then you didn't know.

It was just that it seemed that the General felt she didn't have a need to know a lot of things lately. Part of her was a bit hurt from that, she looked up to the man and him not having any trust in her hurt in ways she didn't want to admit.

"Sir." She came to a parade rest in front of him.

"Good timing Specialist," He nodded and then inputted a few commands as the one of the screens on the left side of the wall came up. This side of the wall held several screens showing various information. The large central one came on and Winter looked at what looked like fly camera images from one of their aircraft.

"An hour ago, one of our aircraft from Argus came into our airspace," He got up to point at it in question. "It was not scheduled, and it didn't have the passcodes."

Winter watched as the video of the aircraft, whoever was flying that vehicle must have been a mad man.

"When being brought it, it then tried to flee as you can see our forces had to force it down."

The image showed the guns firing at the ship as it kept evading, but a shot managed to hit one of the engines. Smoke was coming out of it as it seemed to go into a controlled dive. It looked to have had a hard landing somewhere in the Lower City. The thing that was crazy was how the craft had flown through a tunnel. The aircraft couldn't follow that of course as she heard the request for ground forces on the video.

She guessed this was why she was here to lead the ground team.

"What are my orders?"

Ironwood turned off the video. "Given the recent unrest in the Lower City we can't afford to send in a large team."

Winter knew all too well what the unrest was, a week ago her father had stopped shipping out dust because of the closed borders. He made a public statement saying until the borders were up, he would not sell anymore dust to the Atlas government. It wasn't like they could legally force him to sell to them after all. But it put a huge strain on the economy, a lot of people were running low on dust and shops had to sell them at inflated prices.

Both her father and the General were playing a dangerous game of chicken at the moment and people in the crossfire were starting to suffer for it, especially in the Lower City where people had to struggle to make ends meet.

To say that things were tense was an understatement, all they needed was a big enough spark and it would ignite riots. So, having a large Atlas military force suddenly swoop in would not be a welcomed sight.

"So, you'll be leading a small four-man team to capture whoever was on that flight." Ironwood stated looking out the window of his office. "I want you to capture them if possible, we need information and they have it."

"Back up?"

"If you capture them, I can have a transport ready to your position with extra troops if you need them as well."

"Could this be related to what happened at Beacon?" Winter asked him. "Could the White Fang and whoever helped them finally be after us now?"

Winter wasn't privy to all the information that Ironwood had learned as part of Ozpin's inner circle. He only told her as much as was needed so she had no knowledge of things like Salem and the true nature of their enemy. He felt she was more effective this way and also, he wasn't so sure who he could trust fully these days.

"It's possible, that's why I want you to capture them." He told her. "Two of the members will be waiting on launch pad five for you, they are both Specialist like yourself. The other member should be here fairly soon as I felt this was the perfect mission to test them out on."

"Test out, is this person new sir?" She asked trying to think of anyone that just recently joined the Specialist that it might be but no one new had been promoted to the unit in months.

There was a buzzer sound from his desk as he went to it. "Yes?"

"Sir, that person you were waiting for is here." Came the voice of the man at the desk.

"Excellent let them in," Ironwood looked at the door. "Another fortunately timing. This individual is going to be assigned to your team to help with capturing the fugitives."

Winter turned to look at who it was that opened the door as she stared in wide eyed shock and surprise. "You!?"

 **-Atlas Airspace, 4 Hours Later-**

Cinder could see Atlas now as they flew into view the massive fleet positioned there looked intimidating, but she knew that looks could be deceiving.

"It would seem that Ironwood didn't learn his lesson in Beacon," Cinder smirked she would love nothing more than to have a repeat performance here but that would have to be later. She had more personal business in Atlas after all. "And I thought he was supposed to be a military general, using the same strategy with just more forces is just doomed to fail."

Neo nodded as something Roman told her a few times about how if you pull a job try not to do it the same way. Being predictable would mean you can get caught much more easily. She looked over her shoulder at their 'passenger' Adam. While he did look pretty pale at the moment he at least was still breathing. She honestly wasn't sure if he would last much longer without at least a blood transfusion. Well she wasn't going to offer, and she doubted Cinder would as well.

Suddenly the communications for their ship came alive.

"Attention aircraft you are entering restricted air space."

"Well at least they are punctual," Cinder picked up the small microphone to her mouth. "This is Atlas Flight Phoenix 22 from Argus, this is a priority alpha-red mission. Verification one-nine-two-eight-black."

Neo gave her a sideways look.

"We got a lot of files off of Ironwood in Beacon. I made note to remember the more important bits." Cinder was glad she did since she had lost her scroll at Beacon with the majority of the information on it. But remembering passcodes was always important and if anything, when she put her mind to something she was focused like a laser.

There was a moment of silence as Cinder was a bit worried that maybe the passcodes had been changed. It wasn't a generic one, but one used only for the Specialist, Ironwood kept them on a separate passcodes for missions that were sensitive and only answered to him. She didn't think he would change the code it would be difficult since there were Specialist out in the field outside of the borders even now. He couldn't change them without locking them out of Atlas. She also figured he was secure in his own self that he couldn't fathom his personal codes had been taken as well.

"Clearance verified."

Cinder smiled and in her most serious manner with just a hint of a threat behind her words said, "Good now listen up, you will scrub all data of this flight and our conversation. We never talked, we were never here and you will have no data about us. We were a ghost nothing more, do we understand each other?"

"Y-yes, perfectly ma'am!" The other line disconnected.

Neo might have clapped at that if she wasn't too busy flying.

"Once we're past the line you can drop the image." Cinder looked at the lower levels. "Take us down, it's time we look up an old acquaintance of mine. It's time to go see the Crocked Man."

 **TBC…**


	29. Chapter 29: Hunted

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 29: Hunted**

Specialist Winter Schnee walked to the landing pad where the aircraft that was waiting for her was. She saw two other Specialists already waiting for them. Both wore usually attire of their branch but with some unique traits given that their branch could modify their equipment as needed.

One was a woman who was slightly shorter than her with a green hood to her uniform with a quiver of arrows. Her long brown hair was put into a long twisted ponytail that rested on her shoulder. There was what looked like a metal fighting staff with her that she was leaning on. Thinking about it, she remembered this person as Robyn Greenwood.

The other was another member she was familiar with although she hadn't worked with him before. He was Wōdan Grau, he was a bit taller than Winter with a combat coat about him. He carried a weapon that was currently a spear on his back. The thing that stuck out the most was the missing eye with the scaring over it. In the place of his missing eye was what looked like a mechanical eye patch that was grafted onto the skin. If she remembered the file correctly, that was actually one of Atlas' new experimental replacement eyes.

"Specialist Winter?" Robyn asked.

She nodded her head. "Yes have you two been briefed?"

"Stolen aircraft, crashed, unknown number of enemies, capture if possible," Grau stated with a shrug and then looked behind the woman. "Who's your friend?"

Behind Winter came a young looking girl with long orange hair with a black and green dress with a white blouse and a large bow on the back of her hair. She looked like a young teenager but was very stiff like in how she stood.

"Salutations everyone." The individual stated with a small wave to the two of them.

"Uh…hi?" Grau replied giving Schnee a questioning look.

"Wait," Robyn stated looking at the girl. "I know you, you were in the Vital Festival for Atlas. Aren't you that robot girl that got torn up?"

Grau's head quickly turned to look at the 'girl' in question as he thought back to that Festival. It was kind of hard to forget it as everything that had gone down and to how Beacon fell at that time too.

"For security reasons you will not talk about Miss Penny Polendina being here." Winter stated.

"But how is she even here?" Robyn asked. "I mean she was, well, cut in half."

"Correct if I were human that would have been fatal," Penny said sadly but then smiled. "Thankfully I am not exactly human."

"Great so we get a robot doll as backup?" Grau grumpily sighed.

"I am not a doll," Penny told him sternly but still trying to keep being polite. "I am artificial but I have a mind of my own."

Grau looked at her for a moment as she stared back at him. He gave grunt of a laugh. "Well she's got spunk I'll give her that but how is she in combat though?"

"Oh don't worry I'm fully combat ready now," Penny smiled and nodded her head.

"I guess we'll find out if that's true then," Robyn shrugged not sure about the idea of working with a robot but she had had worst people to be teamed up with in the past.

Winter was glad to be working with professionals again as they boarded the craft.

While Winter and her team were flying out Ruby and the others were in the streets near the crash. All of them were carrying various gear as they made their way through the dingy streets. Qrow was keeping an eye out for any surprises he had seen enough bad neighborhoods to know that they could get jumped by random streets gangs looking for an easy target.

The streets were dark, unkempt and the whole area had this oppressive feel to it all. The few people they did see were giving them looks but keeping their distance. It was obvious they didn't belong and the locals weren't making them feel like they were wanted here, which they weren't.

They had been walking for a bit now but they had no real destination in mind. They were just trying to get as far away as possible and maybe take a break to rest up and think of what to do next. Although they had all rested a bit on the flight, it wasn't enough to get their full strength back. Given that several of them had their aura shattered, the flight had restored their aura to where it could manifest but their reserves were low.

Maria was starting to struggle keeping up with everyone. That landed hadn't been kind to her old frame and while she was spry for her age it was only for short distances. She walked with a cane for a reason after all and now she was starting to feel her age catching up with her.

Oscar with his backpack noticed this first as he stopped next to her. "Are you doing okay?"

Maria panted as she started to think of just playing it off but she hadn't been this active in awhile. Normally she just walked at her own pace but keeping up with everyone was pushing her body.

"I think I could do with a rest," Maria told him.

Ruby wasn't far away hearing this and looked at her and at the rest of them. They were all tired and needed a place to rest up fully. "I think we need to stop for a bit."

"We also can't be close to that ship," Qrow reminded her.

"Well it's not like I don't see any hotels nearby to rest up. Even a run down one would be great," Nora sighed looking around the place. The only lights seemed to be from the few streetlights that were working and the neon signs of a few businesses.

"Maybe we can hide somewhere while we recover and think of our next step?" Jaune asked.

"A place to lay low huh?" Qrow looked around there wasn't much in the way although there were a lot of what looked to be empty or closed buildings. Some looked closed because it was late others looked like they couldn't afford to keep open. There were signs that said 'foreclosed' or 'evicted' signs on them. Qrow narrowed his eyes thinking he saw something.

"Can you go a few more blocks?" He asked.

"Yes what do you see?" Maria asked him.

"A possible place to lay low," Qrow stated as they walked down the street. There at the corner was a fenced off two story building. It looked to have been either a small factory or warehouse from how it looked but it was obviously not in operation anymore.

Qrow took out his weapon as he made a slash into the chain link fence. He pushed it aside as everyone got in. He put it back as close as he could so from a distance it looked like it was still intact. They found a locked door but Nora grinned as she pressed up against it and pushed. The lock couldn't stand up to her strength, as it easily broke open.

When they got inside the place was large but not very well lit.

"Well at least it's out of sight," Blake stated as she put down her bag as it kicked up some dust from the ground.

Weiss coughed a bit from it, "lovely."

"As long as it's a place we can rest up I'm fine," Maria sat down against a machine that had been stripped of everything of value that you couldn't even tell what it had been used for in the past anymore.

Everyone took spots on the ground as they started to set up a small camp like area in the most well lit area of the large open space. It had been a very long day as Qrow went to take a look and make sure no one would sneak up on them or at least not easily sneak up on them. Jaune placed his duffle bag down, placed his weapon to the side as he rolled out his bedroll from when he had been camping with since he and the others had left Patch.

It would at least give him somewhere less dirty to lie on as Yang soon found herself next to him.

"Got room for one more?" She smiled.

"I think I can work something out," He shifted a bit giving her just enough room as she spooned with him. She rested her head on the shoulder without the armor as she sighed.

"God what a day," Yang sighed feeling tired and yet too tired to sleep.

"Yeah just imagine how hard it would have been if we had to go even further like Vacuo?" Jaune joked.

"I think Blake might not have minded," Yang smirked knowing her partner had hated to be split from Sun after the two of them finally got together. She rather wanted to see how Blake would react the next time they met up with Sun again.

Jaune's hand that was wrapped around her gently caressed her side as he looked at her metal arm. "How is your arm?"

Yang flexed it, "Still works but the gun won't work anymore. I think Adam broke something internal."

"Sorry."

"Don't be," Looking at her arm, she had been thinking about it on the flight over the ocean. "I think I need to make another Ember Celica for it."

"Really?"

Yang nodded, "Yeah the gun is a nice little surprise but it's not as versatile as my weapon. It's a pain in the ass to reload too, I can't do it in battle like I can with my left arm and it also doesn't hold as much ammo. I think with the extra armor of the gauntlet it might help protect the arm too."

Jaune looked at the holes in her mechanical arm. "That must have been one hell of a blow."

"Yeah it was," Yang sighed. "I swear some of those blows actually had me worried. Blake's psycho ex was nasty."

There was a moment of quiet between them as Yang in a softer voice said something she had been feeling ever since that fight ended. "You remember our talk back in Haven when you asked me if you were a good person?"

Jaune nodded his head he did in fact he felt that was the turning point in their relationship on how they got to this point in their lives together.

"I killed someone Jaune," Yang said in a soft voice. "I killed someone and…I don't feel much of anything. I should be all disgusted with myself but honestly, I just feel so much relief. I was so scared during that fight but I don't feel scared anymore and all I feel is just confused about it all."

"Jaune what if I liked killing? I mean sure Grimm no one feels back about but even if Adam was a total bastard and needed to be put down what does that make me? I don't want to the be the kind of person that feels nothing when faced with this."

Jaune hugged her close. "Yang listen to me you are still a good person. I'm sure Adam was different because of all the pain he's caused you and Blake. He was haunting you for months now and I think you're just glad it's finally over. I'm pretty sure if it was anyone else you would feel horrible about it."

"How do you know?" she asked in desperation. She felt like she was turning into Raven and that's something she never wanted to be. It was bad enough she could see that she looked so much like her and that was bad enough she didn't want to start acting like her.

"Because I know you Yang," He said as he used his other hand to caress her hair. "You are a wonderful person and I know you would never enjoy doing something like that."

"You sure?"

"Positive," He gently told her. "I wouldn't be with someone that enjoyed killing Yang. You know how I felt about Cinder but besides her, I can't really see myself enjoying killing either. We're both in the same boat about this and since you were there for me when I was thinking about it so now it's my turn."

"Just remember this, you Yang are a wonderful person and my feelings for you prove that." He finished.

Yang smiled a bit closing her eyes. "You're getting better with this whole boyfriend thing you know?"

"Really? He felt good hearing that. "Well thanks, this is all new territory for me after all."

"Well just keep it up and you'll do fine," She assured him.

"So feeling better then?" He asked her.

"A bit…still bummed that I lost my bike." Yang sighed. "I put a lot of work and a lot of miles on that bike."

"Sorry I don't think I got anything for that," Jaune wasn't sure what to say about that.

"It's okay, I just got a lot of memories with that bike is all."

There was a moment of silence until Jaune thought of something that might cheer her up at least he was hoping it would. "Well, how about I send a message to my sister to see if someone can find it?"

Yang shook her head, "Sorry but given how high it fell from the entire thing would be trashed. Even if they found it the engine and frame would be so damaged that I would have to replace it and then most likely a lot of other stuff. It would be easier and cheaper just to get a new one."

Jaune could hear the longing in her voice but something she said got his interest. "Well how about when we finally get a break we do just that?"

She shifted to give him a questioning look.

"I mean getting you a new bike? Actually I always wanted to ride one too."

"Do you even know how to ride a bike?" She raised an eyebrow.

Jaune shifted a bit nervously. "Well…no but I do know of someone who could teach me."

Yang gave a small smile as she thought about it. It might not be too bad to help him learn. "You're also going to have to learn how to maintain a bike too. No boyfriend of mine will be mechanically illiterate when it comes to bikes."

He just shrugged with a grin, "Well isn't that what couples do? Find stuff to do together? It is isn't it, I mean I thought so." He said the last one with a little uncertainty.

"Yeah it is," She got back into her comfortable spot on him as she thought about it. It sounded like a nice thing for them to do. She thought about a new bike with Jaune behind her holding her waist as they just ride the roads together. Then she thought of them riding together on their own bikes and she could see them racing and going off on adventures together like that.

It was a good dream.

Maybe for her next bike she would still have it mostly yellow but have some white in there instead of the black. She wondered if she could talk Jaune into the same or similar paint color if they got bikes together after all.

Ruby saw them and although she couldn't hear what they were saying she got a good vibe from it all. She remembered how withdrawn Yang had been after her injury and how she had caught Jaune at night training while punishing emotionally punishing himself. Now looking at the two of them, she felt they were going to do just fine now.

"So what now?" Blake asked sitting on her own bag looking at her broken weapon with a frown.

"Well we could use something to eat and drink," Weiss stated.

"I think we got some snacks somewhere." Oscar looked through one of the bags and pulled out a water bottle for the former heiress.

"Thanks," Weiss nodded with a smile. "So any luck?"

"With Ozpin?" Oscar sighed. "I keep trying but it's hard to know what he's doing. I can't feel him there as I used to only that he's somewhere in the back of my mind. Like something is just out of reach, if that makes any sense."

"I hope he comes out soon we have a lot to talk about," Weiss stated flatly before taking a drink.

"You and me both," Oscar sighed again. There was a lot he needed to talk to him about now that he and everyone else knew the full truth.

"So what's next after we have a break?" Blake asked looking around.

"Easiest way is to get to a travel station and use that to get up to where we need to go," Maria thought about it. There were travel stations with aircraft that traveled all the time to the Upper and Lower areas.

"You know where one is?" Blake asked.

Maria shook her head. "Sorry but I never been down here in this part of the city before."

"I'm not sure if we can just ask for directions either," Blake said thinking back to how the people in this neighborhood had been looking at them and keeping their distance.

"Maybe we can find a store or a better area?" Ruby offered. "I mean there's also got to be signs around the city too right?"

"Sounds like we're in for a lot of walking tomorrow," Weiss sighed. "I think we should get rested up maybe in the morning things would be better it is pretty late at night after all."

Ruby thought about it. "Yeah, I think Weiss has a point. In the day maybe we can find some help or at the very least get pointed in the right direction."

 **-Crash site-**

As the airship landed and the ramp came down winter could see that the area of the crash site was already cornered off. There was already Atlas military making sure the area was secure, as they had arrived not long before them. Both sides of the tunnel were now closed off now to prevent anyone from going down it. Although there wasn't much traffic in this area of the city it could still happen.

"Report." Winter asked the first soldier she noticed with officer ranks on their uniform.

"We've sealed the area off and we called in a recovery team to get the equipment out of here." The officer stated with a salute. Everyone knew the Specialist by their uniforms and that if they were here then this event was a lot more serious than just a simple stolen vehicle.

"Very well my team will take a look at the crash site," Winter told him. "Is there any change of the vehicle from exploding or any fires?"

"None ma'am," He replied and pointed to the front of the tunnel were two wings could be seen. "As you can see the wings were ripped off so the engines were with them and the rest of it while damaged was inspected and nothing dangerous should happen."

Winter nodded as they moved into the tunnel, they could see the scrapping on the ground from the metal, there was some white paint at the start but the rest of it was a trail gouged into the street. This would require a road crew to fix but then she remembered where she was. The odds of any kind of roadwork being done on this road weren't very likely unfortunately.

The rest of the craft could be seen with some military members, most likely engineers, looking it over.

"Give us the area," Winter commanded as the engineers didn't want to argue.

The team split up as they searched the area, Robyn scouted the area looking for anything as part of Wōdan's artificial eye glowed blue as he used it's more advanced functions. He could see an overlay of the area with footprints as an example that popped out in this mode. The problem was with all their troops walking all over the place he had to carefully look things over to try and make out the different between footprints.

Penny was already inside the vehicle with Winter following her. Penny went to look over the controls as Winter checked the cabin. She stopped smelling a rancid smell and looked down and her face twisted into a disgusted grimace.

"It appears one of the criminals couldn't keep their meal down." Winter stated.

Penny came over and looked at it, she bent down and placed two of her fingers into the substance.

"What are you doing?" Winter asked.

"I have sensors in my fingers tips," Penny explained. "I'm linking it up to Atlas files if there is any match in any database from the DNA found inside of this."

Winter hadn't known that she had that ability built into her. That certainly helped as linking to the Atlas military, police databases would allow them to identify anyone if they had a criminal record or any record that they had without having to wait for the results.

Penny's eyes looked to be reading something that wasn't there but suddenly it stopped as she stood back up to face Winter. "Sorry ma'am but the data isn't in Atlas Military, Civilian, or criminal database."

Winter nodded that meant whoever did this wasn't from Atlas originally or at least not someone who either had government service or a criminal record.

That at last told her something about what happened here. "What of the controls?"

"There was no bypass whoever stole this did so without unlocking the controls." Penny reported.

Winter frowned at that. Normally you have to put in a code to get the engines started up, as it was a way to prevent theft or at least make it easy. The only way this would happen is if the vehicle was already started up or it was given to said criminals with the computers unlocked or hacked. One of those scenarios was worse than the other for a few reasons she could think up.

"Found something." Wōdan's voice called out. They left the craft and saw that the male Specialist was a ways away from the vehicle kneeling down looking at the ground. "Found a trail, it took me some time but it leads to that emergency exit and I checked with our boys here. No one's been through the door.

With his artificial eye, he could see several tracks going to what looked like an emergency exit in the tunnel side. It would make sense to go this route as both ends of the tunnel would be watched by the Atlas forces since the crash.

"How many?" Winter asked although she couldn't see them she trusted his skills as he looked along the street.

"Hard to say but a lot, I'd say between six and ten. They were walking together so the footprints are all over each other. One might be injured, there are these round marks in step with the footprints so someone was walking with a cane or a makeshift one at that."

Winter frowned that was a lot more than she would have guessed. She might have to call in reinforcements if things proved too difficult, then again, it was a nasty crash and if they were injured if they were forced into a fight it might go better for them. It also meant that they were slowed down unless they split up or the one with the cane was left behind. Slowly the picture of what they were dealing with was forming in her mind but the picture wasn't complete yet.

"Where's Specialist Greenwood?" Winter asked looking around not seeing the woman.

"She went on ahead, oh there she is," He nodded to the open door as he stood up it was at that moment that Robyn walked out of the doorway. She walked up to them and showed a piece of cloth as Winter took a closer look it looked more like canvas on closer inspection.

"I think this was from a bag of some kind, found it near the end of the tunnel. Looks it got snagged on something." Robyn explained.

"So they were carrying something?" Penny asked tilting her head.

"Weapons, dust, explosives," Robyn shrugged. "Hard to tell really but they are certainly geared up. I found this too."

She held up what looked like a used dust round.

"They left a dusk round?" Penny looked closer at it confused. It looked to be a smaller round maybe for a handgun?

"You know how rounds can sometimes catch in clothing only to fall out later when it gets shaken loose or someone finds it and just throws it away without thinking?" Robyn explained to her. "Might have been that or ejected from a weapon they had on them too." She sniffed it, as the burnt smell was still fresh. "Recently fired today too although I'm not sure how long ago, maybe a few hours at the most."

That told Winter that whoever they were might have taken the ship by force. Her eyes narrowed at this as the thought of Atlas soldiers being shot just to steal one of their ships did not sit well with her.

"So we have a direction then," Winter nodded pleased with this. "We better get a move on then, they have too much time ahead of us. Specialist Grau can you track them with your eye?"

"As long as they didn't go into a high traffic area," He told her confidently. Tracking was of course one of his specialties after all. Robyn was also great at scouting and it was the reasons the two of them had worked together on several missions before now and made a good team. Between the two of them, anyone they were tracking usually ended up being caught.

"Then let's go then shall we?" Greenwood grinned, as she was eager to hunt down whoever had stolen the Atlas airship.

 **-Elsewhere-**

Neo wasn't sure where Cinder had been taking her only that they ended up outside of what looked like some kind of club. She saw the large neon sign of a candle that read 'The Candlestick' in red colors. The club strangely didn't have a bouncer in front, as Cinder walked in as if she owned the place. In fact she did that all the time now that Neo thought about it.

As they crossed the threshold Neo's ears were filled with blues music with a singer on the stage. Looking around the place looked to be not a dance club like how Junior ran his place in Vale. This place actually had some class to it.

Cinder went to the bar as a tall man had their back to them.

"Hello Jack." Cinder said.

The young man stopped as he started to turn around. "Well there's a sexy voice I haven't heard in-whoa! Cinder that's uh…a new look."

Neo looked at 'Jack' as he looked to be about Roman's age, he had on clean and well-pressed clothing of dark blue. He looked to keep his appearance very well maintained and there was a small scar one of his eyebrows. Obviously someone used to getting into a lot of fist fights to get that kind of scar. Neo had to say he was handsome and seemed to know it too.

"Life has been a bit difficult," Cinder replied. "I need to see him."

Jack looked around thinking it over, "Well okay but you know if he's not happy to see you that's all on you."

"Of course," Cinder replied.

Jack motioned for them to come behind the bar as he led them through the door into the back. As they took some stairs up he gave an appraising look to Neo. "So who's your cute friend?"

"Her name's Neo," Cinder replied.

"Cute name for a cute young lady," Jack grinned and winked at her. "So what's your story?"

Neo rolled her eyes as she ignored him.

"Cat got your tongue beauty?" Jack asked.

"Don't waste your time," Cinder told him as they got to the top of the stairs and walked into a hallway. "You won't get anything out of her."

"Well I do so love a challenge." He replied.

They were led to a thick door as he knocked there was a voice that told them to come in. Neo wasn't sure what to expect but seeing the man in the center of a room with chairs all around him in a circle she guessed this was the 'Crocked Man'. There were others in the room a few men and a couple of women that were eying them. She focused on the older man who was starting to get graying hair and wrinkles. If she had to guess, he was over fifty but his eyes bore into her as if he could see everything you were with his dark eyes.

He wore a fancy stripped suit with his hair immaculately brushed to the side with a thick mustache. What really caught Neo's attention was his body. He had a cane and it looked like one of his legs was misshapen, the hand on the head of the cane was clawed slightly and part of his face looked like someone who had a stroke as it sagged slightly on one side.

Neo suddenly realized why he was called 'Crooked' and it wasn't just because he was some kind of underworld figure.

"Well Cinder it looks like you have darkened my door one more time." The Crooked Man stated in a cultured baritone voice, which was calm but held power in it. "It seems life hasn't been kind to you since we last met either."

"No but when is it ever?" Cinder asked him.

He nodded his head, "Oh yes that is true."

He slowly got up as he limped over to them, even though the man looked to be some kind of cripple Neo was getting some nasty vibes off him. He towered over Cinder even though his back was bent slightly. He looked at Cinder before looking right at Neo with a long but very calculating gaze. His eyes went up to her hat as he looked back at her eyes.

"So you must be Neapolitan," He stated making Neo tilt her head wondering how he knew her name. He only gave a small smile. "Roman spoke of his new little protégé."

Neo's eyes widened in surprise at this, this old man knew Roman?

"He never told you? I'm not surprised, Roman was always very independent and didn't like to talk about the past. He always was looking to the future after all." He walked back to his seat as he sat down and pointed to a picture on the wall.

"He also liked to show off too much," Jack stated leaning up against one of the walls.

"You two never did get along," The Crooked Man sighed.

Neo went to the wall to see various pictures she saw an older picture of the man in front of a building. Around him were various people, some were young boys and girls, she thought she saw a younger Jack there with a band aid on his face but then she froze seeing a familiar face. There in the photo was a much younger Roman as a teenager.

"Roman grew up here," The old man explained to her. "I gave him that hat you're wearing on the day he left. He wanted to go out and make a name for himself since he couldn't do that here in Atlas. He needed room to grow and couldn't do it 'under my shadow' as he once said to me."

Neo had never known anything about Roman's past, mainly because she had never thought to ask him. A pang of loss hit her again, she didn't expect to run into a link to him here and it was bringing up wounds that were still too fresh for her.

"It was through him I learned how to contact Roman," Cinder explained to her. "You can't just look up an address for Roman just anywhere after all. So when I was last here I got in contact with the Crooked Man to help me find the best thief in all of Vale."

Neo never really thought about it before, Cinder had just showed up one day at one of Roman's hideouts while she was out. Now it started to make sense, it wasn't like you could just run into Roman at random or go looking for him and expected to find him. If it were easy, the police would have caught him years ago.

"Yes and although Roman left our little family to strike it on his own," The man gripped his cane a little harder as his voice grew a slight edge to it. "He was still one of my boys."

There was a click as Jack had silently moved to the door and locked it while they were focused on the old man. Every other member of the gang in the room were tensing up as Cinder had a feeling that this wouldn't be easy after Neo had come after her but she had plenty of time to think of what to say if this happened.

"I didn't kill him," Cinder stated flatly.

"But he did die on your watch working for you." The Crooked Man said flatly.

Neo noticed that his clawed hand was moving slightly on the cane and although it was different, she could see the signs that it was a weapon much like Roman's, actually now that she thought about it, it might be more accurate to say that Roman's was more like his. She wondered why he chose a cane of all things to make a weapon out of, at least that was one question she had answered.

"He was killed because of a certain individual we've tracked to Atlas," Cinder told him never once losing her cool demeanor. "Ask Neo, that's why she's with me."

He looked at Neo now. "Is this true?"

Neo actually took a moment to think it over, partly because she wanted to see if Cinder would sweat a little. To her disappointment she wasn't, in the end Neo simply nodded her head.

The Crooked Man leaned back to think on things. "Because she has vouched for you I'll leave the matter be."

He waved his hand as the tension building up in the room dropped as Jack unlocked the door.

"So this person is here in Atlas," He mused. "Did they happen to arrive in a stolen Atlas ship?"

Cinder raised an eyebrow at that she knew that he had his fingers in a lot of places. This was actually impressive he knew about this so quickly. People did say that his reach was very far and deep in this country it was why she sought him out after all.

Maybe this was also, why Roman wore a lot of white. It was one of the standard colors of Atlas society and she never knew where Roman was from originally. She hadn't cared to know all the really needed to know was that Roman would always have her back. At least that's how it was supposed to have been.

"That would be correct," Cinder nodded she figured that they would be on their way to General Ironwood at least that was the most logical assumption she could make. It wasn't as if they knew many people here at least not powerful ones that they could go to for help. Other than the Schnee family that is but that was where she would look next if they weren't with the General. If all else failed she was sure she could ask him to find out where they were holding up in Atlas, for a price of course. Nothing was free with this man.

He hummed in thought, "You didn't ask me where they were which means you already know where they are or will be, so you need something else I take it?"

"We have an associate heavily wounded that needs medical attention," Cinder told him.

"How badly?"

"Badly."

He took only a moment to think about it and turned to Jack. "Jack my good boy, please help the ladies with their associate and take him to the good Doctor."

"Which one?" Jack asked as they had a few doctors both legitimate and those that were less so on a payroll.

"The one on the East Side."

Jack paled at that, there was only one doctor there although Jack would never call that crazy bastard a doctor. "He's liable to kill him than heal him."

The Crooked Man looked to Cinder, "While this is true is he lives he'll be in top shape, better some might say."

Cinder shrugged. "If he dies then he dies now then is there a price for this help?"

He nodded his head, "Always, there is always a price to pay for everything in this world. A hard truth I learned long ago. There had been some young fools thinking they can take what is mine without consequences but we can talk at length when you return."

"Jack please do see the ladies out and show them to the good doctor." He politely ordered the young man.

"Yeah sure thing boss," He didn't look pleased to Neo and Cinder about taking them to see this 'doctor' they wouldn't know why until the moment they met the man.

 **TBC…**

 **Okay a couple of things I want to say.**

 **First I wanted to thank everyone that takes the time to actually review this story. It's because of people like you that I can write this. I like getting feedback so please if you read this please leave a review last chapter only half the usual number reviewed and not a lot viewed it and it made me worry that people were starting to dislike the story and I didn't know why. So again, to everyone that takes the time to put in a review I really do thank all of you as you have no idea how much it means to be to get feedback.**

 **Second, I planned on bringing back Penny since the start of this story, I had a plan to make her identity secret in this chapter but then Rooster Teeth actually did bring her back as I got spoiled early with it and my plans of the big reveal in the next chapter were scrapped. So I had to rewrite her parts of this story since no one would really be surprised by what I had planned originally. It will mostly stay the same but I basically had to change it up a little as it my surprise was ruined.**

 **Hopefully the rest of what I have planned won't be.**


	30. Chapter 30: Messy Reunion

**Again, a huge thanks for everyone that takes the time out to review the story it really is appreciated and help motivate me to get these out.**

 **Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 30: Messy Reunion**

Winter's team had followed the trail and it seemed to end at an abandoned plant or some kind of industrial building that had been shut down. Wōdan's eye had shown a trailed leading to it as Robyn carefully had found a cut in the fence. The four of them were hiding by a building out of sight around the corner.

"Anything?" Winter asked.

Wōdan's eye changed to a red one as his vision changed to a thermal view of things. He could now see several people inside of the building. "I got ten people at least, one of them is moving around I think that one is checking the perimeter. A few of them are on the small side, they seem to be resting."

Winter frowned, ten people was a lot for just the four of them. Pulling out her scroll she opened up the communications line.

"Backup?" Greenwood asked her not taking her eyes off the building.

"Yes," Winter took a look at the local forces. There were the usual military members plus some Knights that they could call but they were more for patrols. She typed in some commands to request a few units to the surrounding area to at least encircle the block to cut off any escapes.

The Ace-Ops unit was close by but it would take time for them to show up and she was eager to get this over with and get back to work, as there was a lot of work to be done these days plus she also had a lot of questions for whoever was in there.

"We have the element of surprise," Grau stated. "We get in fast and hard with them resting we can take most of them down."

Winter decided on a requesting backup and going in, if the fight lasted longer the backup would refresh them and surprise their enemies with the unexpected attack. There was also the fact that the three of them were Specialist part of the elite units of Atlas. They also had Penny and the girl Winter read the reports on her upgrades but hadn't seen her personally in a combat situation yet.

"We move in." Winter told them closing her scroll.

Everyone inside of the building was feeling the aches and pains and how tired they all were. It wasn't the most comfortable place but at least it made them able to take a break from it all. That was until Blake's ears perked up as she sat up straighter.

Weiss noticed this. "Are you okay?"

"I thought I heard something," Blake commented before an arrow was shot through one of the dark windows and landed in the middle of them. As it struck the ground there was a large flash and loud sound as the flash bang attached to it went off. There was nothing but confusion and panic as mostly everyone was deafened and blinded from the device.

Blake's eyes and ears took more punishment from her Faunus heritage had been forced to her knees in blinding pain. Weiss was with her as was Oscar. The ones not taken down from it were Jaune and Yang who from their position took some of the blast but not all of it. They staggered to their feat ready for a fight as a figure burst through the door.

Nora and Ren were stunned but slowly getting up as like with Jaune and Yang had moved to a more secluded spot to get comfortable with each other.

Ruby and Maria had gone off to a corner as Ruby was asking Maria more questions about silver eyes and what she had done in Argus, Maria's eyes were unaffected by the flash, too bad her ears weren't.

Qrow had been making a last round of the place when he heard the commotion. He tried to rush back but years of instinct kicked in when he suddenly dodged to feel a blade swipe by him. He turned and pulled out his weapon at the same time feeling it clang against another blade. It was dark and hard to see but he could make out the shadow of whoever was attacking them.

The figure was quick and agile but also aggressive in their movements he could hear heels and the grunting from the person all added up to a woman. Not that it mattered to him after all he was an equal opportunity ass kicker anyway. He could hear by now a fight going on behind them but he had to deal with this woman first.

Problem was, she was good…and familiar. The way she moved, the quick and smooth motions he felt like he knew her. When you fight someone, you get to learn a lot about a person as how someone fights is unique, like how a fingerprint is unique to a person or how someone paints.

Then it happened, a large familiar glyph appeared glowing in its own light and he knew who he was fighting.

"Oh crap," Qrow muttered was she had to dodged and rolled out of the way before she used her glyph to sent herself at him at super speed. "Winter it's me!"

Qrow changed his weapon to lower the blade and quickly shot out a few windows letting in a lot more light. Winter had paused when a familiar voice yelled out at her when the person shot out the windows she was ready to fight again but when the light hit him, the sight of Qrow shocked her. Then her shock turned to anger as all the trouble that they were dealing with, of course, Qrow of all people was in the center of it.

"Qrow!" She yelled out angrily. "You better have a good explanation for all of this."

The sounds of fighting behind them was still heard as Qrow realized that they needed to stop that now. "Sure but first we need to call them off each other before someone gets hurt!"

Winter agreed as the two went into the room with the fighting.

While that had been going on the others were in a desperate fight already. Yang and Jaune were trying to fight the one eyed man that had come at them with a spear. Yang and Jaune tried for up close with him but something wasn't right. Yang went for a left punch but the man moved like he saw it coming as he dodged it by leaning back and then kicked out one of her legs causing her to lose balance.

Jaune tried to step in with a swipe of his sword while he dealt with Yang but the man twirled his spear to parry the sword. He moved in a fluid motion and spun as he did so his weapon turned into a rifle as he fired a few shots as Jaune raised his shield up. Yang again tried to attack while he was focused on Jaune, since no one shot at her boyfriend without getting some pain.

Again the man moved as if he saw it coming a mile away, she had gone for a kick but he twisted and ducked low as he swung the butt of his now riffle to her knee. Yang cursed as she got back up and managed to stand next to Jaune.

"You getting something weird going on with this guy?" Yang asked him.

"Yeah," Jaune nodded as he realized that his movements were too perfect as his mind quickly was taking note of it and trying to come up with a strategy to deal with whatever he was doing.

What they didn't know about Grau was that his semblance was called Foresight. Now while it sounded like he could see the future, in actuality it was just a bluff when he told people it. In reality, it boosted his reflexes and his perception slowing down everything around him. It allowed him to react in a way that seemed like he knew what was going to happen. With his artificial eye helping to enhance his perception, it was a deadly combination.

Nora swung her weapon at the woman with the bow and arrows while Ren was firing the woman but she was quick and nibble and his shots were not as accurate as he would have liked. The woman smirked as she pulled an arrow out and fired it at Nora as she dodged it.

"Ha! You missed!" Nora grinned.

"Sorry kid but I never miss," Greenwood stated as the arrow ricocheted off behind her a few times before it hit Ren in the back. The arrow head had a special device on it that when in contact with aura it opened up as Ren quickly found his arms bound in cables.

"Ren!" Nora shouted as the woman's bow collapse into a fighting staff a she came at Nora.

Nora swung her hammer, as the space was too small for her grenades, not that she had much in the way of ammo left. The woman was however too fast using the now fighting staff to deflect Nora's blows and counter attack slamming it a few times into the shorter girl.

Ruby saw the trouble Nora was in and aimed her weapon while it was still in 'gun' mode.

She fired a few times at the woman who took one hit as a bit of green aura showed up as she woman took some distance. Ruby took aim tracking her but before she could fire, something else happened. There was a loud crashing sound as something actually smashed through ceiling, dust, rust and other elements were scattered around the area, as Ruby had to shut her eyes tight to avoid getting stuff in them. When she opened her eyes, whatever had crashed into the room was already heading for Weiss. Ruby took aim ready to fire when two voices were screaming at them one of them was her uncle.

"Stop, everyone hold your fire!" Qrow shouted.

"Specialists, stand down!" Winter commanded.

There was a pause in the fighting as everyone stopped. Weiss' eyes widened hearing a very familiar voice as she called out to her sister. "Winter?"

"Weiss!?" Winter called out looking to a darkened figure.

"Let me help," Qrow stated doing the same trick and firing a few times to shoot out a few of the darkened windows letting in more light. Now that everyone could see better they could all see the various people in the room. The two Specialists were surprised they were fighting young men and women who were dressed up more like Hunters. There was even a young teenage boy and an old lady with them.

There was a large clank sound as Ruby dropped her weapon as she looked on in shock and disbelief. Standing there was someone she had seen killed in the Fall of Beacon, one of two friends she had lost that day but now standing not far from her. She couldn't process it, it was Penny, she looked different now but it was still her. Penny looked at her in surprise, which quickly turned to delight as she smiled broadly at Ruby.

"Ruby! It's so good to see you again," Penny greeted her cheerfully.

"What the hell, is that Penny!?" Yang's jaw dropped at seeing the robot girl there.

"I…yeah…yeah it is," Jaune said next to her equally shocked.

Ruby only stood frozen seeing that familiar smile, that warm smile that seemed to welcome the whole world. Ruby felt the tears falling by this point her eyes quickly being blinded by them turning Penny into a blurry image. She felt the lump in her throat as her emotions were rushing through her uncontrollable.

"Oh no, Ruby are you okay are you injured," Penny quickly came up to her first friend looking her over hoping she wasn't injured as crying she knew was a sign of injury.

Ruby couldn't say anything as she quickly threw her arms around her and pulled her close.

"P-P-Pennyyyyy!" She cried out as she quickly started to sob into the girl's shoulder.

Penny wasn't sure what to do, she liked hugs but her friend was also crying and so she had mixed feelings on what to do.

Qrow who could see the dilemma in the robot girl's face only gave her a small smile. "Just hug her back and let her get it all out."

Penny nodded thankful for the help as she did just that hugging Ruby.

"Urgh!" Ruby managed to get out between her crying feeling the crushing hug. She didn't care even if her ribs did feel like they might crack under the strain. This too was a familiar sensation she hadn't felt in over a year. She just buried her face into Penny and cried her heart out. All that pain from seeing her torn apart on the tournament ground came flooding back to her

That feeling of utter helplessness as she just sat there unable to move or do anything seeing Penny broken on the ground not moving after Pyrrha had accidentally used too much force and had Penny's own wires cut the robot girl to ribbons.

"Not that hard Penny," Winter told her as she knew the girl still had trouble adjusting her super human strength at times.

Penny loosened up a bit as Ruby held on to dear life, a part of her was worried that if she let go Penny would go away again. Too many people had gone away, her mother, Pyrrha and Penny had been one of them too. In this moment, she didn't care how it was possible she had one of the people she cared for back.

"So…I take it Ruby knows this girl?" Maria asked looking around.

"Penny," Blake told her unable to look away from the scene. "We thought that she was…well dead."

"Well she looks healthy enough for me," Maria shrugged.

While this was going on there was another reunion this time between sisters as Weiss walked over to her older sister.

"Weiss what are you doing here?" Winter demanded. "The last I heard you fled the manor and now you're here with everyone?"

She was about to say more before Weiss pulled her big sister into a hug surprising the older woman. Weiss had never really taken action like this since physical displays of emotion weren't encouraged in their household. For Weiss she just wanted to hug her sister, after everything she needed this. She left Atlas hoping to find her only to find out she had gone back to Atlas. Even though she had wished never to return to Atlas anytime soon in this moment she was glad to be back in Atlas for the moment.

Weiss pulled back giving her sister a small but warm smile. "It's good to see you too sister."

Winter wasn't sure what had happened with Weiss, she was different, that much was obvious to the woman but looking at her little sister she also seemed to have grown. She could see the independence and freedom in her eyes and it made Winter wonder just what had happened between now and the last time she saw her sister.

Despite all that, it was good to see her again.

"Weiss what is going on? We thought we were after a group of criminals that stole an Atlas airship." Winter demanded.

"Oh yeah that," Weiss avoided her sister's look since they had in fact did steal the ship.

"Yeah…funny story?" Yang scratched the back of her head looking awkward as everyone else was.

"I think we should tell James in person the whole story," offered Qrow. "That way we don't have to repeat everything."

Winter knew something was going on but the General would want to hear about this. While she pulled out her scroll to call up a transport for them, the others gathered around Penny and a recovering Ruby.

"Sorry, sorry," Ruby sniffed as she rubbed her eyes and wiped her nose with her sleeve. "I think I got some snot on you."

"That's alright," Penny said in the same chipper attitude she usually had. "What's snot between friends?"

The robot girl then looked around seeing everyone else. There were a few faces she didn't know but she knew all of Ruby's team and the others she had seen but never got the chance to interact much with them while she had been in Vale.

"Salutations," She waved at them all. "It's good to see you all again."

"Penny how, well…" Blake tried to find a way to put it nicely before Yang jumped in.

"How the hell are you still alive?" Yang blurted out.

"Yeah that," Blake nodded.

"Oh, well I was damaged very severely," Penny recalled. "I remember falling onto the ground as my internal systems all went into the red. I had to perform an emergency shutdown in order to preserve my power supply to my core."

"Your core?" Nora asked.

Penny nodded, "Yes it's where all my memories are kept along with what gives me aura."

"So you do have aura after all," Jaune stated as Penny looked at him as she only ever told Ruby that part. Seeing the look he started to explain. "On our trip to Haven we had a lot of talks and we got Ruby to talk about you. She explained how she knew you were a robot and how you said you had aura."

"Wait what!?" Yang said as she, Blake and now a returned Weiss looked to Ruby.

"Oops," Ruby shuffled a bit. "I think I forgot that when we were all catching up when we were all in Haven. Honestly I didn't think much of it since…well I thought Penny was still dead."

She looked to Penny, "Sorry if I told some of them after."

Penny shook her head with a smile. "It's alright the secret was out by that point anyway."

"So how did you get fixed up?" Jaune asked curious.

"Atlas agents took her body as soon as the cameras were cut," Winter supplied as she had known about the operation her handlers were tasked with if Penny was ever too damaged to return on her own. It was one of the reasons she had two guards on her most of the time while she had been in Vale after all.

"Come to think on it when the Nevermore broke into the arena I don't remember seeing Penny's body," Ren stated as he thought back to that day. It had been so hectic that he missed it since there had been more important things going on.

Winter nodded. "They took her to a ship and put her on emergency power to keep her stable on the flight back."

"I woke up in my father's lab a few days later." Penny told them. "He showed me what happened."

Penny then looked to Jaune. "I am so sorry for what happened with Pyrrha."

Jaune was surprised by this, "Thanks…I mean I know she was devastated with what happened with you."

Penny nodded. "I know, from what I knew of her and from her files she wasn't the sort to maliciously do anything like that. Still I wish I could have talked to her to let her know that I hold no hard feelings about the incident."

Penny then made a pose as she flex her arms. "Besides my father was able to upgrade me and now I'm fifty percent more efficient than ever before."

"Wait," Ruby thought about something. "You said you woke up only a few days after that, why didn't you let me know you were okay?"

Penny turned to her friend with a saddened face. "I was only awake for a moment as my father wanted to make sure I was okay. I did ask for you but he didn't know anything at that moment as he was still repairing me. He shut me down again as he did so telling me he would look into your status while I was 'asleep' and would tell me when I woke up again."

"It was a full month before my repairs were fully complete and I was awake again. He told me you were fine but that some of you were injured." She turned to look at Yang's arm. "He actually made that arm for you."

Yang lifted her damaged artificial arm this had been made for her by Penny's father? She hadn't known that, she remembered her dad saying something about it being a gift from Ironwood but she hadn't really thought much about that.

"He made this for me?" Yang asked her.

Penny nodded. "Yes, when I heard how hurt you were I asked him if he could do anything for you. My father is a genius in cybernetics and he even has a clinic here in Mantel to help people in his free time."

"Hold on a second," Maria stated hearing that. She had been trying to follow along but she was still missing a few key points she felt. At any rate she would asked for more clarity when she could but this point sounded like something she would know about. "What's your father's name?"

"Oh how rude of me," Penny forgot she never said her father's name. "His name is Dr. Pietro Polendina."

"Oh I know him," Maria said and looked to Yang. "Looks like we share the same doctor kid."

Yang blinked, "What do you mean?"

"He's the one that gave me these," She pointed to her eyes. "He's the one that I see every ten years for a checkup."

"He gave me mine as well," Grau stated as he and his partner had stayed silent this entire time taking mental notes on everything. They knew when to say something and when to sit back and listen, sometimes you got more information that way after all.

Maria looked at him, "Well looks like you got a better one than these." She pointed to her large 'eyes' while his looked more like an eye patch.

The man shrugged. "It was only a year ago I got it, those look pretty old. I'm surprised you didn't try for an upgrade."

Maria waved it off, "I asked about that, they're wired to my optic nerves and that would take a long surgery to replace. At any rate I never knew he had a child, he didn't have one last time I visited him ten years ago."

"Oh that's because I'm only four years old," Penny stated.

Everyone was silent for a moment as Maria tried to process that. "What?"

"Oh right because you're a robot," Nora got it. "Man does it say that on your identification because that's got to be rough going to the movies."

Penny thought about it she never actually checked her own ID before, she never needed to and she never got to see a movie either. Well outside of her room back home that was. She returned to Ruby to explain. "When I was finally on my feet again I did send you a letter with Yang's arm explaining everything. I couldn't contact you any other way with the CCT network down."

"Oh..." Ruby now got it. "I wasn't home I had already left for Haven at that time. Yang?"

Yang shook her head. "If you got a letter dad most likely kept it for you when I got my arm. It's most likely waiting for you back home this entire time as I doubt dad would have opened up a letter for you while you weren't around."

"Yeah that's something dad would do," Ruby nodded hoping to visit home again at some point to get that letter as she would like to read it when she could one day.

"As much as this catching up is all nice and all," Winter said in a neutral tone. "we have a ride landing not far from here."

Everyone started to pack up and get their stuff as Robyn and Wōdan stood next to each other as she leaned in to whisper to him. "So…does this mean we're not arresting anyone?"

He only shrugged in response.

 **Mantel, East Side**

A van drove through the streets of the East Side of the city to where more factories were located. This was where a lot of the dust refinement was done in Mantel. Because it that there weren't many living areas in this part of the city. The van was something that Jack had brought since they needed help in transporting Adam. Cinder was up front with him as Neo was waiting with and unconscious Adam in the back.

Cinder looked around and the whole city felt like an iron grip was on it. Apparently, Ironwood was more shaken up from Beacon that she had thought. She grinned at seeing how just one event could push someone to extremes. As they continued, she noticed more and more of the robot units marching along the streets.

"What happens if we're stopped?" Cinder asked as having someone see a heavily wounded and dying person in a van wasn't something she wanted to deal with.

Jack just shrugged, "The Old Man has people everywhere and if someone can't be bribed then they can be blackmailed with stuff they don't want everyone else to know about. So our vehicle plates were eventually put into the system and tagged. As long as we don't do anything, overtly illegal the bots leave us alone and mostly every human working this part of the city knows the markings on the vans to also stay away.

Cinder had noticed a small black mark on the side of the van. It was small but noticeable as it was a hexagon with a bent figure on it. She knew it was the sign of the Crooked Man and most likely, everyone else in the know also knew about it. Like how Lil' Miss Malachite had that spider symbol for her gang of informants. The rest of the trip was in silence until they pulled into a small alleyway. He stopped as he got out of the van as Cinder and Neo followed.

Jack went to what looked like a side loading dock with a doorway with a camera on the outside. He pressed a buzzer by the security door.

"Yes?"

"Got a patient for you Doc."

There was a moment of silence until the loading doors opened up. Jack got back into the van as he backed up towards it and into the large garage. Cinder and Neo followed as they looked around, the place lowly lit a bit, there were boxes to the side of the place but it looked to be very well cleaned however. There was a mechanical growl as they quickly turned to the other side of the room as from a darkened doorway a mechanical beast slowly came out into the more lit room.

Cinder looked it over and was curious it looked like a bunch of different machines put together into the form of a Beowulf.

"God I hate that thing," Jack muttered as he just ignored the doctor's 'watch dog' that he had built for the building. It was one of the reasons no one really bothered the doctor given that once word got out about the mechanical mutt, people stayed away. There were also rumors on what he did with the 'leftovers' from what the mutt left behind those stupid enough to try something.

From a set of double doors facing the back of the van suddenly came out two robots, these were more human like in appearance but like the other one, were a patch work of various models, most likely cobbled together from thrown out pieces or whatever else he could have found or maybe bought.

They also had a gurney with them as they made their way to the van, Jack just opened the back door like he had down this before, in fact he had done this before.

The robots without a word took Adam's body and placed it on the gurney and they started to roll him to the set of double doors. The three humans followed them, they didn't have to go much further as they found after a short L shaped hallway they entered what looked like a surgical room. At least, the closest you could get outside of an actual hospital.

The room smelt of cleaners and there was a large plastic tarp around a surgery table. There were bits of dried blood here and there the equipment looked to have seen better days but all still seemed to work. There standing there was an older man, his hair was graying by the sides of his chestnut hair. Despite everything, he was immaculately dressed. He seemed to take very good care of his physical appearance with a very trim beard looking at them all.

"Ah Jack it's been awhile since you've darken my doorstep. So what have you brought me this time?" The doctor said seeing the man on the gurney.

"Patch job for the ladies here," Jack jerked his thumb at Cinder and Neo.

The doctor looked them over but stopped at Cinder. "You know my dear I could help with the missing eye if you want."

"I'll see what you do with Adam here before I make any kind of decisions." Cinder told him. Although it might be nice to have depth perception, again she didn't exactly trust him for anything like that.

"Well then let's look at the patient here." He muttered looking over Adam's body.

While this was going on, Neo went to looking around the room and saw some medical licenses well she doubted they were still valid if he was working here after all. She checked out the name on them, Franklin Nathanial Stein. Apparently, he was a doctor in more than just medicine. Franklin huh? She wondered if anyone ever called him Franky or Frank? Looking at the man she guessed not, he had a stuffed shirt look about him.

"Young man, I'd say twenty-ish," Dr. Stein said to himself looking over Adam. "Faunus, most likely a bull variety from the horns." He started to take a close examination of his body. "That eye is useless it will have to be replaced…possible fracture of the skull from an impact and also possible shattered spine."

"He did fall from a high place," Cinder offered given that Adam had been washed up downstream from a waterfall it was easy enough to piece together he must have fallen from it.

"Well that explains why his shoulder and arm are also crushed," He looked at the right side of the body and he could tell from the feel of it alone that the bones were broken in several areas. "Subject was burned, no…stabbed and then burned? Did someone cauterize the wounds? You know you're not supposed to do that as it only makes burn injuries to deal with on top of the usual trauma."

"He was bleeding out and we didn't have access to anything that could have helped," Cinder coldly defended her actions. She wasn't a medic of any sort and she doubted Neo had any medical training either.

Dr. Stein sighed. "Well maybe it was the only call then, still please remember in the future that burning wounds isn't like they do in all those films. I can only guess at the internal damage but it would be extensive…"

"Can he be saved?" Cinder asked him getting a bit impatient.

"If I start right away…possibly," Dr. Stein smiled as he stood up. "I do so love a challenge after all. In fact, he might be the perfect subject for a series of experimental items I was working on. It would be very valuable to see them put into action."

"Well then it sounds like you have everything in hand," Cinder turned around. "I believe we are done here and we should let the doctor get on with this work."

"Fine with me," Jack muttered this place always gave him the creeps the patchwork robots didn't help matters.

"What is the boy's name?" The doctor asked as he had the robots start to get the place ready for surgery.

"Adam." Cinder told him as they were leaving.

Dr. Stein looked down at his patient. "Hello Adam, don't worry you'll be better than ever when I'm done with you."

 **TBC…**

 **Well that's two things now that Rooster Teeth have done that I planned on with the idea of a person like Robyn. Anyways I'm interested to see who can name all the references so far so let's see who can guess them all and you'll get a shout out as the winner next chapter.**

Wōdan Grau

Robyn Greenwood

Dr. Franklin Nathanial Stein

Crocked Man (this is more easier but I was also inspired by a certain game)

Jack (hint was the name of the club)


	31. Chapter 31: We're off to see the General

Winners were Biscuits on a Discord server who got it all first and also AnimeFan299110

Wōdan Grau = Odin

Robyn Greenwood = Robin Hood

Dr. Franklin Nathanial Stein = Dr. Frankenstien

Crooked Man (this is more easier but I was also inspired by a certain game) = Character from Wolf Among Us

Jack (hint was the name of the club)= Jack be Nibble

 **Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 31: We're Off to see the General**

After packing up everything, the group moved out onto the streets but they noticed the amount of Atlesian Knights that were encircling the area.

"The hell?" Qrow asked giving a questioning look to Winter.

"I meant to cancel that command," Winter sighed as she pulled out her scroll which looked to be a slim stick with a screen that pulled out of it. A few gathered around seeing the more advanced scroll as Winter put in commands to have the Knights go back to their patrols.

"So where's our ride?" Yang looked around.

"Largest area it can land safely is down the street a bit," Greenwood smiled.

"Well what's a little more walking?" Yang shrugged at Jaune.

"Oh trust me I think those of use that walked to Haven pretty much became masters of the art of the long walk." Jaune said with a smile.

"Yeah no kidding," Nora groaned remembering some of those days on the road seemed to drag on forever. You never really got a sense of just how far something was until you had to walk it.

They left the area behind and quickly Winter led them to an area where the buildings would allow for a transport to land without much issue. They were waiting for the ship to land as they looked around the area they were in. There was a patrol down the street as the people looked at them with glares and open hostility towards anyone in an Atlas uniform.

It made the younger members of the group very uncomfortable.

"Is it always like this?" Ruby whispered to the others.

"Not the last time I was here," Qrow told her in a low tone. "Sure it was bad but you can feel the tension in the air."

"Oh look it's the Jack Boots," A drunk man shouted at them from the streets. He was sitting down against a building holding a half-empty bottle.

"Do you have a problem citizen?" Winter asked him coldly with her hands behind her back looking down at him.

"Oh no, I love the police state we live in," The man slurred. "I love being laid off because we can't sell any dust anymore, I love the fact I can't walk down my street without being hassled by those damn robots."

"Enough," Winter snapped at him. "We are here to keep the peace and ensure the safety of the people."

"Yeah sure," The man waved off what she said slumping down as he took another shot.

"Then perhaps you should be sitting in a drunk tank for public drunkenness." Winter told him in a calm manner.

"Would be better than sleeping on the streets tonight," the man muttered.

Before Winter could say anything more another figure noticed what was going on.

"Hey look! Atlas is harassing the citizens again!" A man shouted pointing as the other citizens looked at the scene. "And it's the Dog of Atlas herself!"

"The what?" Weiss blinked.

Winter's eye twitched at the new person, she hated that name. Then again she knew the other name she was called was 'The Bitch of Atlas' which was even worse. Before she started to say anything the other two Specialists slowly moved forward.

"Now let's not start something," Robyn told him in a calm manner. "We are just waiting for our ride to show up."

"So you can go back to your paradise in the sky while we toil and do all the work down here and get nothing in return, huh?" The man said in a sarcastic tone. "This is why we need someone on the council that will work for us, the common people that are suffering under the boot of Atlas."

He turned to the people. "This is why we need people like Robyn Hill on the council!"

"Oh great a political radical," Grau sighed under his breath. More and more of these types were coming out of the woodwork.

"At least you don't share the same first name as _that_ woman," Robyn Greenwood sighed. Ever since Hill showed up onto the scene, she heard all the jokes just because she had the same first name. It wasn't even that funny they had different last names and were very different people.

"We need to stand up to Atlas and show them that we aren't-" He didn't finish before Grau swept his leg out from under him and quickly turned him onto his back as he placed some cuffs on him.

"Alright that's enough of that," Grau calmly stated.

"You can't do this!" the man shouted.

"Actually we can with the emergency actions," Robyn shrugged as she jerked her thumb to a large screen down the street as Ironwood was on the monitor.

The others could just barely hear the words from Ironwood about how Atlas was there to protect them, how these are dark times and that they were here to help. To the young Huntresses and Huntsmen in training they weren't sure what to do. This didn't seem right to them but what could they actually do? They came all this way for help from Atlas after all.

"Do you really have to do this?" Ruby asked Winter.

"He'll just get a fine," Winter told her. "At the most he'll spend the night in a cell and then he'll be released. If he actually physically did anything then it would have been much worse."

Before anyone could say anything, more a sound of an engine of an airship was heard above them as a transport vehicle landed for them. They looked at the man as the two Specialist were holding him up, apparently they weren't doing much other than waiting for a different transport to take him away.

Then a siren was heard it was a familiar sound to everyone as it was the standard sirens used all over Remnant for Grimm attacks. It was the standard set up so that people visiting an area of the world would be aware of what was going on. All of them tensed up as Winter pulled her scroll out and got access to the Grimm attack network.

"What is it?" Ruby asked gearing up with her weapon.

"Where are they?" Yang asked next.

The others got ready for a fight as Blake pulled out her weapon but seeing the broken blade remembering her sword wasn't intact anymore, she switched it to gun mode. Winter however did notice this and looked at them all. They all looked slightly tired and judging from how they looked they had already seen a fight.

Winter turned to Penny. "A small number of Grimm three blocks away."

"Rodger," Penny saluted.

"Wha? But we can help!" Nora complained.

"You're all tired and some of you aren't fully equipped." Winter told them giving Blake a look at that last one and also at Yang's damaged arm. "Penny can handle it."

"Don't worry I'm fully combat ready and I'm the protector of Mantel now, I got this," Penny smiled as a jet sound came from her feet as she started to fly up into the sky and headed towards where the Grimm were.

"She can fly!?" Ruby shouted out.

"She couldn't do that before?" Ren asked.

"No-Yes-I mean I don't know she never did around me!" Ruby told him her arms stretching out to where Penny had been.

"Come on, the General is waiting for you all." Winter stated.

There were some concerned looks passed between them all as they gathered up in the ship. They flew up and over the city as they passed more and more of the city they saw the large video screens showing either Ironwood or Winter saying the same messages all the time. They saw passing patrol craft and soon they were out of the lower city of Mantel and going to the upper city of Atlas.

Arriving in Atlas city was a very different experience. The cities were right next to each other but were as different as night and day. While the lower city was a more industrial design to it all, cramped and in darker colors. Atlas was pristine, in mainly whites, light blues and light grays. Everything was had sharp angles to it all like it was trying to look like it was made out of crystals but once you got closer you could see it was just polished metals.

The total flight from Mantel lasted maybe fifteen minutes before they landed and got out. When they did they were faced with something they hadn't expected to see.

They found themselves looking up at a very impressive structure, it was one huge central tower coming out the base of something that looked like a closed stadium with four other smaller towers equal distances around the central building. As they got out and looked up it was so tall that the tower seemed to slightly bend over them. This was just an optical illusion of course given the size of the building and how tall it was but it did make you feel very small in that moment.

Most of them have never lived in areas where the tallest buildings were no larger than several stories tall. This dwarfed even Beacon, which was the tallest thing that again, most of them had ever seen before.

"Wow…anyone else feeling really small at the moment?" Nora asked.

"Oh yeah," Ruby nodded with a few others.

"Welcome to Atlas Academy," Winter said with a hint of pride in her voice.

"This is the academy?" Jaune stated looking at the building.

"Among other things yes," Winter told him as she walked on. The others quickly following her up the stairs.

"To think you nearly came here," Yang leaned over to Weiss.

"I still don't regret my decision to go to Beacon," Weiss simply said.

"We don't either," Blake said as her team shared a smile between them all since if she hadn't gone to Beacon they wouldn't have met and formed their team.

Blake's ears started to twitch, "Does anyone else hear that?"

"Hear what?" Ruby asked before suddenly hearing a sound getting closer and closer it sounded familiar but before anyone could say or do anything there was a loud and violent impact near them causing them to fall down.

"I'm back!" Penny stated smiling before seeing everyone on the ground. "Oh…uh sorry about that."

Winter sighed. "Penny you have been told about landing too closer to people at high speed?"

"I'm sorry Specialist Schnee," Penny replied. "I was just excited to get back."

"What it's over already?" Ruby asked her dusting herself off.

"Oh yes," Penny nodded happily. "It was just a small pack of Sabyr Grimm."

"Those are usually the type found around Atlas," Weiss nodded remembering her lessons here about the local Grimm. They were large cat-like Grimm with two long fangs, they tended to be quick and agile.

"That is correct," Penny nodded. "They were no threat to me or the next two packs I fought on the way here."

"Wait you dealt with three different groups of Grimm?" Ruby knew that Penny was strong but apparently her new upgrades, whatever they all were, had made her even better than she remembered.

They all walked up the stairs to the main entrance, which was a doorway far taller than it had any right to be. It looked like a doorway for giants or something. The inside was just as big, the ceilings were very high, and everything was smooth and polished. The cleaning crew that kept this place looking spotless had to be an army unto themselves just to keep this place looking like it did.

They found themselves in an elevator it was a bit of a tight fit for them all but they managed to fit in as they took the long ride up, it was one of those awkward silences that usually pass in an elevator. Eventually they got to the top of the elevator and soon found themselves led into General Ironwood's office. Winter and Penny went to either side as he stood up visibly glad to see them.

"Well this is a surprise." Ironwood told them. "I'm sorry for everything that happened but we thought your aircraft was stolen."

"Yeah…about that…" Qrow scratched the back of his head.

"We might have…borrowed it…without asking?" Ruby managed to get out.

The shocked faces of Ironwood and Winter at this quickly changed as Winter's anger over that took over. "You stole an Atlas aircraft!? Qrow! What were you thinking?"

"Hey it wasn't my idea and they were dead set on it. They were going to do it with or without me."

"It's true," Ruby nodded.

Jaune slightly raised his arm, "And it was actually my idea."

Ironwood pinched the bridge of his nose at this. He was glad they were here but all the trouble they caused just getting into Atlas was already starting to give him a slight headache.

"Well we would have come normally but when we asked the Atlas people in Argus they wouldn't listen." Ruby told him. "So we kind of have no choice."

"Argus…" James thought about it and then he remembered. "Oh yes, Cordovin is in charge over there."

Ironwood was starting to see the problem now. There was a reason why that woman was stationed so far away from Atlas. She had a lot of issues with dealing with people not from Atlas, the city itself, there were a lot of issues she had when dealing with people from Mantel that caused her to get reassigned to Argus over ten years ago.

"So I take it that's the reason you evaded the patrol is because the ship was stolen?" He asked guessing the answer.

"One of the reasons," Qrow nodded his head.

"Although we were doing well until they shot at us," Maria shrugged.

Ironwood turned to face the unknown woman curious about her. "You I am not familiar with."

"Maria Calavera," She stated with a smile. "Retired Huntress, I sort of got pulled into all of this craziness."

"Hey no one put a gun to your head," Qrow stated. "In fact you could have left at Argus at any time."

"True but this was more fun," Maria smiled.

"Still I think a civilian even a retired huntress, shouldn't be here for what we have to talk about." Ironwood stated.

"What about them?" Qrow pointed to Winter and Penny.

"The General informed both of us of everything." Winter stated with her hands behind her back as Penny nodded her head.

"Oh so the whole thing with the Maidens, magic, relics and all that stuff then?" Maria asked making Ironwood and Winter double take at the old woman that apparently knew some of the greatest secrets in the world as though it were nothing.

"I think we're all on the same page," Yang stated with a shrug.

"Yes we learned everything before coming here," Weiss stated although she knew that they knew more than the others given what Jinn had shown them.

"We also have this," Ruby showed him the Relic as she unclasped it from her side.

Ironwood came over and gently took it examining it. He had heard of the other Relics but he hadn't actually seen one outside of the Staff of Creation that was sitting below them in the vault deep under the Academy. He placed the lamp on his desk thinking about what he wanted to ask, he had a few questions in mind but from what he remembered you could only ask three.

He planned to make these three questions count and he already was thinking of what the first one would be about. He smiled feeling like finally something was going right for the first time in weeks.

"Well with this we'll have an advantage." Ironwood smiled. "So we will finally learn how to kill Salem."

"Actually," Ruby hesitantly stepped forward. "All three questions have been asked."

Ruby could feel all the eyes of every one of her friends on her, she knew it was a lie but she wasn't sure if Ironwood should be the one to use the last question. Everything she had seen in Mantel and Atlas so far left her with more questions than she liked. He looked so different than when she had first seen him at Beacon and his actions, well she wasn't sure about them. There was this 'wrongness' to it that she felt in her gut.

She did want to tell him everything as well but how could she tell him that apparently there wasn't a way to kill Salem? He looked so eager for that answer and yet she knew if she told him it would crush his hope in the future like it nearly had with them. She still remembered how badly her uncle Qrow had taken the news, he was better now but could she really just do that to someone else?

Ironwood looked at the relic in disappointment. "Do we know how long ago?"

"No," Ruby hated lying she hated it so much since it felt like she was digging herself deeper with every lie.

"So somewhere between either one year or nine hundred and ninety-nine if I remember what Ozpin told me was true." The General knew that it could be any number of years and most likely he wouldn't live long enough to use it by the time it was ready to answer more questions. "Still I'm surprised Leo let you take it out of the vault as I thought location of the Spring Maiden was lost?"

Qrow sighed running his hand through his hair. "I take it then my letter didn't reach you."

"What letter?" Ironwood asked.

"There was an attack on Haven," Qrow held up his hands seeing Winter and Ironwood wanting to say something. "We stopped it with some help, it's a bit of a long story but the short one is. Leo betrayed us."

"What?" Ironwood looked like someone had just punched him in the gut at that revelation.

"I don't know for how long, most likely before Beacon's fall given how Cinder and her group used him to make official documents saying they were students from Haven. He sold out nearly all the huntsmen and huntresses in Haven, most of them were dead by the time I got there. He was also fighting alongside Cinder and her people."

"So she survived Beacon after all," Winter muttered as Cinder, Mercury and Emerald were identified after all the confusion and put on the world wanted list. There was no trace of either of them until now and Winter had been keeping an eye out in case any of them ever showed up on Atlas.

"After the battle, we don't know how, but Leo was found dead in his office. Not sure who did it and when but that's one loose end gone at least." Qrow held no sympathy as a lot of those people that died because of him were friends of his or at least he worked with them enough times to respect them.

Ironwood didn't like the sound of it but now a missing piece of the puzzle of how Cinder got into Beacon under their noses started to make sense. "There's more?"

"Yeah turns out we know who the Spring Maiden is now." Qrow stated.

"Who?"

"My mother," Yang spoke up for the first time as they all looked at her. "She had it for awhile now and she opened the vault."

"Yet you have the Relic." Winter stated wondering how they beat a Maiden.

Yang didn't say anything as what she said to Raven was deeply personal and she didn't want to explain it all to them. She suddenly felt Jaune's hand in her own as she gave him a quick look as he gave her a look of compassion with his expressive blue eyes. She hadn't know just how stressed out she was feeling until this moment as the stress started to slowly leave her.

"Well at any rate," Ironwood could sense that this topic was somewhat personal. He picked up the lamp and handed it back to a surprised Ruby. "I think you all can take care of this. You've all done well to get it here and I see no reason to change it now."

"I was kind of hoping we could have put it in the vault actually." Ruby told him.

"Unfortunately that isn't possible at this time," Ironwood stated.

"Why is that?" Blake asked him. "Do you not have a Winter Maiden?"

"We do," Winter answered her. "But the problem is that she's not in the best of health. She's fairly old and is bedridden now."

"Nothing too wrong with being old," Maria muttered.

Winter cast a quick look at the retired huntress before going on. "If she tried to use her powers it might be too much for her body to take."

"So you'll have to hold onto that fort the time being," Ironwood nodded at Ruby. He sighed as so far it felt like it was one-step forward and one-step back. It was true that it was good having them here it was hard to tell who to trust these days after all, especially after learning about Leo. "I just wish Ozpin was here to help."

"Well…" Qrow took a step away as he gestured for Oscar who had been silent this entire time. "That's another thing we have to tell you."

Oscar nervously stepped forward, he had been trying to mentally coax out Ozpin ever since they got into the elevator but so far nothing. He was really hoping that by being here Ozpin would have come out like in the aircraft when it was going down. He hadn't though and now here he was facing possibly the most powerful man in all of Atlas and it was only just him.

Ironwood was confused for a moment until it suddenly dawned on him. "Ozpin!? Is that really you? I didn't think you would be back so soon."

He felt glad that Ozpin was back, when he was told about his immortality he hadn't really been sure about the truth on that. He was glad he was wrong if this was the case because after losing Leo and no contact with Shade Academy or Glynda at Vale, Ozpin was the only other member of their group he felt he could trust. They might have butted heads but he never lost his respect for the man.

Oscar winced, "Not…exactly. He's here but something happened. There was…a train accident." He cast a quick look to Ruby who quickly nodded her head a bit. "After that accident I lost touch with him."

Oscar hated lying like this, he thought that the group felt that there should be no more secrets but here he was put in the middle of yet another secret. It felt wrong but he also trusted Ruby's judgment.

"I see," Ironwood sighed turning his back. "Well we can deal with that later. I was hoping I could have gotten his opinion on the plan but I suppose we'll have to continue on."

"Plan?" Ruby asked as everyone was curious about this.

Ironwood nodded to Winter who hit a button as the window shutters closed as he got behind his desk to address them all. "When Beacon fell we lost the CCT tower for Beacon as well. This as you know caused the entire network to fall allowing communication only in local areas. Small villages have been completely cut off unless they are closer to a larger settlement or city. I plan to fix this, to bring up the network again."

"But how?" Blake stated. "Are you going back to Vale and take back the Beacon tower?"

"Unfortunately the Grimm dragon's body is still there." Winter told her. "The last we heard the school grounds were still overrun with Grimm. A battle on the scale to take it back would only end up further damaging or even destroying the tower at this time."

"The Huntresses and Huntsmen in Vale are already busy keeping Vale City and the surrounding area safe as it's so closer to Beacon."

"Yeah I bet Glynda has her hands full already," Qrow sighed knowing that Glynda wouldn't abandon the city as long as she breathed. She would most likely be leading all the able-bodied person in the defense of the city until they could go on the offensive. The problem was, once the Grimm took over an area is was damn near impossible to get it back.

Mountain Glen took years of fighting to get the area secure enough to build the city there and even then, it eventually fell.

Ironwood hit some controls at his desk as a hologram image showed up of what looked like a floating island. It took a moment for the students to realize that they were seeing Amity Colosseum where the Vytal Festival was held every few years.

"Wait what do you plan to do with Amity?" Jaune asked first.

"We plan on using it as a new tower," Ironwood stated. "We took ownership of it before the Grimm became too much so we wouldn't leave it behind."

"So you're going to fly it back to vale?" Weiss asked next.

"No," Ironwood shook his head. "It would work but then Salem would just knock it down again. We need a tower so high that even she can't get at it. It would have to be totally out of reach of everyone on Remnant. So we're going to modify it, turn it into a giant tower and send it into orbit of the planet."

"We're calling it a satellite," Winter explained. "It will be in a stable orbit where it can reach all over the world, we will never be without a CCT network ever again."

"You guys sure this will work?" Qrow asked as the plan sounded a bit farfetched but if it worked it would be a hell of a thing to have.

"The math I'm told works out," Ironwood said. "But we are going into uncharted territory."

"How will this even work?" Weiss had been thinking about it but there was on major flaw with this. "You can't get it up into orbit. We've been trying for years but all dust loses its power once it leaves the planet. It's why we don't have anything like this already up there."

"The plan so far is to use lots of gravity dust with maybe some fire dust as extra propellant to force it into orbit before the dust loses its power." Ironwood explained. Although he didn't understand the math behind it, it was the only way to launch something into orbit of the planet until they could figure out a way to keep dust from losing its power or find an alternate means to accelerate an object.

"Ambitious," Maria nodded her head liking the idea. She had no idea if it would work but it sounded like it might.

"So you get a new CCT network up and running, nice plan so far," Qrow nodded.

"That's only the first phase," Ironwood stated. "When we have reestablished world wide communication we will tell the world the truth."

"The truth?" Qrow asked him getting a bad vibe from how he said that.

Ironwood nodded. "Yes, it's time the world knows about Salem."

"What!?" Several voices cried out.

"Why?" Ruby asked him.

"Because she's been hiding in the shadows all this time," Ironwood placed his hands behind his back as he explained his reasons. "We need to unite the world against her and destroy her once and for all. With a force like this I believe we can end her threat once and for all, without her the Grimm will be leaderless."

"That's going to cause a hell of a lot of panic everywhere James," Qrow told him.

"We know," Winter stated. "That's why we pulled back all our forces. After the announcement we'll sent them out to protect each city and help with the increase in Grimm until things calm down."

Ren however saw a flaw in this, "You seem to have enough for major areas but what about all the small villages?"

Ironwood and Winter cast a look at each other, this was something they had known. They did have enough forces for the major centers only. Winter turned to face him, "That's where we're hoping the Huntsmen and Huntresses can help defend those areas once we coordinate with them."

Ren remembered that ruined village they came across on their journey to Haven how they had been there to see that last Huntsmen die. "That might not be enough."

"It's all we have," Winter sighed. "Even if we up the production of the Knights and Paladins it will take too much time and resources that we're putting into the current project."

"There's two more issues I think you need to consider," Qrow told them. "First not everyone trust Atlas, closing your borders and going quiet so soon after Beacon didn't make you any friends. The other is who will believe you? You'll have to give some kind of evidence for some people to believe."

"That's…true," Ironwood stated with a resigned nod. He had thought that he would have to show off the Staff and perhaps the Winter Maiden, or the new Winter Maiden that he was planning for. "I do have an idea of what to show them and I'm hoping my words will reach others."

"This is a big risk James," Qrow sighed. "There was a reason why Ozpin over the centuries made all this nothing more than legends and myths."

"Yes but this shadow war has gotten too big to hide anymore, not after Beacon," Ironwood sighed rubbing his eyes. He felt so tired these days, there was just so much to do and so much happening that he had to keep an eye on.

Winter noticed the strain and decided to step in. "I believe it's been a long day, perhaps a good night's sleep is in order?"

"Yeah we have had a big day," Nora stifled a yawn as ever since this morning since they left Argus.

"Penny?" Winter asked. "Can you show them to the dorms?"

"Of course," Penny saluted as she eagerly went over to them to show them out.

They left the office before Ironwood called out to Qrow. "Qrow, it really is good to see you."

Qrow raised an eyebrow he knew that they had never really seen eye to eye much and he was about to say something before James pulled him into a hug of all things. Qrow stood there shocked as he locked eyes with an equally shocked Winter behind them. Qrow shrugged it off as he gave him a small one in return. He guessed James really was desperate for help that or maybe he was just carrying too much weight on his shoulders.

"Well we're here to help now." Qrow told him as they disengaged.

"I'm glad for it too," James replied as Qrow went off to catch up with the others.

As this was going on Penny was happily leading the group to the dorms. She was so excited to have Ruby and everyone else here. She had been missing her friend all this time and seeing her again in Atlas and the fact that she would be here for some time made her feel very happy.

"You'll all love it here, we have everything you could need," Penny looked back and tiled her head. She saw Yang and Jaune holding hands as they were carrying their own bags in the opposite arms. She quickly searched her memories on human relationships.

There were a few things it could mean so she decided to ask for clarification.

"Is there any significance to Yang and Jaune holding hands?" She asked suddenly.

"Oh this?" Jaune blushed a bit holding up slightly his hand with Yang's.

"Oh yeah there've been some developments since we last saw you," Yang grinned. "Me and Jaune are dating."

"Oh how wonderful!" Penny clapped her hands together ecstatic. "This certainly is a joyous occasion."

"There're not the only ones," Nora sang out wrapping herself around Ren's arm as he looked a little uncomfortable with the public display of affection but he did enjoy it also when they were close like this.

Penny's eyes traveled to Blake in a silent question.

"Me and Sun kind of…became a thing," Blake rubbed her arm a little embarrassed.

"Where is Mr. Wukong?" Penny asked them.

"He went to Vacuo with his team," Blake explained to her. "Both to train and to keep an eye on things in case Salem decided to try something against Shade Academy next."

Penny nodded in understanding as she looked to Weiss and Ruby next expecting the same.

"No." Weiss said simply and ignoring everything else. She and Neptune were, she honestly didn't know what they were. Maybe if he grew up and stopped chasing every girl he met she would give him another shot but at the moment she was single. And realizing that everyone else in their group other than Ruby was pairing up did leave her a little jealous.

"N-no nothing like that," Ruby told her trying very hard not to blush at the question. Sure she didn't have anyone like that in her life, they were too busy. Her mind did flash to that kiss she had with Oscar as her eyes quickly saw him. He looked at her and for a brief second both youths thought back to that night together and quickly looked somewhere else.

Penny tilted her head she had registered heightened heart rate and body temperature with Ruby for a moment. Maybe she was sick? She certainly hopped not but she would keep an eye on her friend just in case something was wrong with her.

"So, where are we staying?" Qrow asked catching up to the group.

As team RWBY looked at the room they would be staying in, it was pretty much like everything else in Atlas. All polished metal and very simple and minimalist. There was one thing however that when Ruby saw it she had a huge smile on her face.

"They have bunk beds here!" Ruby zipped over to them.

"I think they're actually just bunks," Blake stated since the four beds were actually in the wall itself with two closer to the floor and two above them.

"I don't care it's close enough," Ruby happily squealed. "This is just like back at Beacon, why couldn't Beacon have bunk beds?"

"It would have saved us time on the first day," Blake smirked not to mention these at least were more structurally sound. Sometimes she was surprised neither of the beds had toppled over in their time in their team's old room.

"Well I'm keeping the top bunk." Yang yawned out. "God…has it only been a day since Argus?"

"I know it feels longer," Weiss took her shoes off rubbing her feet. "It's been a very busy day."

"Stealing an aircraft, fighting a giant mech, fighting Adam, fighting a horde of Grimm with a Leviathan," Blake counted it off.

"Not to mention running away from Atlas air patrol, crashing, then getting attack by my own sister and her team." Weiss finished.

"So Ruby…why are we not telling them everything?" Blake hesitantly asked.

"I don't know, you saw how tired he looked," Ruby sat down on a chair. "You all remember how we reacted after learning everything what would it do to him?"

There was silence there as they all thought about it, they had seen how Mantel was now and although Ironwood was trying to do the right thing or at least what he felt was right, there were some questionable things going on. He looked worn down as well from the weight of everything on his shoulders.

"I hate this," Yang muttered. "I'm feeling like how Ozpin kept stuff from us but now we're doing it to someone else."

"Yes…but I think I can start to see why he did now," Blake sighed seeing the looks. "I still don't like he did but learning the truth, the _whole_ truth, it's just so much."

"Not to mention his plan to reveal Salem to the world?" Weiss stated. "Am I the only one having second thoughts about that?"

The others nodded their head thinking about all that would happen.

"I mean at least getting the CCT network back up and running would go a long way to helping everyone." Ruby shrugged.

"Yeah I can get behind that." Yang nodded as she yawned.

"We can think more in the morning," Weiss said getting up. "First. I think we all need a good rest after everything."

On that they all agreed on, they changed out of their clothing as they were glad they kept their bags with them. They all without words, decided on keeping the sleeping arrangements as they had back in Beacon. It just felt a bit more natural for them besides tomorrow was a new day and they got the feeling they would need all the rest they could get.

Yang however tossed and turned a bit trying to get a feel for the bed. It wasn't bad or anything but something was missing, she sighed as she realized it wasn't a what but more of a who. Although it had only been a few times she was quickly getting used to having Jaune with her as she slept. There was just something comforting about it all.

She was starting to wonder if maybe she and Jaune could get their own room together? Now there was an idea, Qrow might have an issue, sure he was cool with them dating but she figured if he found out what they did that night at Jaune's sister's place in Argus he might not be so understanding.

Come one, in a few more months she and Jaune would be twenty years old they were legal adults now. If she wanted to move in with her boyfriend what was stopping them? She figured Atlas has plenty of extra rooms like Beacon did for when the Vytal Tournament came around to house all the teams from other kingdoms after all.

She did miss his presence though.

In another room Jaune, Ren, Nora and Oscar were all in the same room. They decided on Oscar sharing with them since they didn't want him to be alone. Maria most likely had her own as did Qrow and they felt Oscar could use some inclusion in the teams more. He took the bottom bunk as Jaune took the taller one. It was just easier for him and Ren to take the taller ones as with their heights it was easier to get into them.

Still as he lay on his back he tried to fall asleep, he should have but he kept expecting to feel Yang there resting her head on his shoulder like she usually did. He missed the weight of her body pressing against him, the feel of her body heat, the soft smell of her hair.

Well at any rate, all he had to do was fall asleep and he could see her again in the morning. It was funny, they only just parted but already he was missing her presence. His feelings for Yang he knew was growing to be a bit more than just liking her. He was falling hard for her that much he knew, he just hoped that she was feeling the same. He was pretty sure she did but until he said those three little words that had been building up in the back of his mind he didn't know.

'When the time's right, I'll take the plunge and say it to her,' He thought to himself closing his eyes and she started to think of a familiar shade of lilac eyes and golden hair.

 **TBC…**

 **Just wanted to thank everyone that reviews, this story just passed over 400 thanks to everyone that left a review for the story. Next few chapters might be a bit more light hearted and more original content. Also going to explain some of the new looks the others get.**


	32. Chapter 32: Thinking of You

**A little warning, this is a bit of an M rated chapter for a few scenes.**

 **Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 32 Thinking of You**

Yang hummed to herself as she was in the kitchen cleaning up the plates for today's lunch, he hair done up in a ponytail as she hummed to herself in the kitchen of the house she lived in. It was the usual type of kitchen except for maybe by the doorway were small etchings showing height but nothing that big. She felt strong arms around her waist as a familiar set of lips kissed her neck.

"Hey there." Jaune said.

"Hey yourself," Yang smiled at the sensation. "That feels nice."

"Well you also feel very nice," He replied as she could feel him pressing up against her back.

Yang smiled as she turned around and placing her wet hands behind the back of his neck pulling him into a heated kiss. She felt the small stubble on his face as he was experimenting with growing a beard. It kind of tickled her face but she was eager to see where this was going.

"Ewwww." A young voice said as the adults pulled away.

Yang saw a young girl standing there, she had long blonde hair in pigtails in a yellow sundress. Both of them pulled apart as Yang smiled down at the little girl. "Hey now it's perfectly normal for us to do this. So you excited for today?"

"Yeah! Momma, when's auntie Ruby coming?" Their daughter asked.

"She should be here soon," Jaune said wrapping his arms around Yang's waist. There was a knocking on the door as the little girl's face lit up as she raced to the door. "I'm not sure who she takes more after you or Ruby with how much energy she has."

"She's just at that age," Yang told him as she felt his left hand on her stomach with her own as she could feel the rings there on each hand. They could hear the happy sounds of a young child with that of an adult. "Come on, let's go and see them."

They walked into the room as an older Ruby was holding her young niece up in the air as the kid giggled.

"Hey sis," Yang spoke up.

"Hey Yang, hey Jaune," Ruby smiled putting the girl down. "So, you ready for the day at the park?"

"Yeah!" The girl jumped up.

"Take care you two," Yang told them. "And don't spoil her dinner for when you guys get back."

"No worries," Ruby said holding the girl's hand as they were going out for the day.

Yang sighed as she leaned up against Jaune she loved her daughter but sometimes it was good to have a moment alone. She turned around as she wrapped her arms around Jaune's neck. "So, we got the whole afternoon to ourselves, what do you plan on doing?"

Jaune smiled down at her, "Oh I think it's the same thing you are."

With that he captured her lips his hands going to her hips. She moaned into his mouth as she wanted to enjoy this moment with him. She decided to surprise him as she hopped up as he quickly caught her his hands gripping her ass as her legs wrapped around his waist. Jaune nearly stumbled from the sudden movement.

"A little warning would have been nice Yang."

"Got to keep you on your toes," She kissed him again.

"Has it really been that long?" Jaune asked between kissing while true that being parents was a full-time job on top of their own but Jaune always tried to make time to ensure his wife wasn't feeling neglected.

"Yes, it has," Yang told him giving him a heated long kiss. "This is the first time in weeks we've gotten some alone time and I want it."

Jaune tried to take them to the bedroom but it was upstairs and he wasn't sure he wanted to stop long enough to get there. He quickly went back into the kitchen as he sat her on the table and moved to her exposed neck.

"Really, right here?" Yang nearly purred at the feeling of his lips on her neck.

"Wouldn't be the first time," he told her.

"Nope." Yang pulled off her shirt tossing it aside as Jaune did the same bringing her back into a kiss. Yang felt the skin of his chest against her own as she raked her good hand over his chest. "Damn it, I don't think I can wait with all the foreplay."

She pushed him off as she positioned herself facing the table now. She undid her pants and slide them down as she bent over the table. She heard his pants following as she eagerly waited for him. She felt him grip her panties and pulled them aside groaning in anticipation. She needed it now, they could take it slow after this but she just needed him. She felt the warm tip at her entrance and then-

"Salutations!"

"Ah!" Yang woke up with a start looking around confused as she blinked away the sleep.

"Good morning Team RWBY," Penny happily told them.

Yang could hear some groans as she angrily flopped back down onto her bed and pulled her pillow over her head.

' _Damn it Penny, you couldn't have waiting for like five minutes?'_ She angrily thought. She heard the others getting up but she was tuning it out as her mind went back to her dream. She had been married to Jaune, pretty happily too. She had a kid with him, she tried to remember her face but she couldn't. She was starting to forget parts of the dream.

Still, her and Jaune together with a family?

She wasn't exactly against the idea. She wasn't ready for that kind of relationship though. So why did she feel a sense of longing? Most might think she never thought about having a family but that wasn't entirely true. She always wanted to have a happy family of her own one day. There was nothing wrong with her sister or dad and uncle but after Summer died, she left a hole in their lives that never was filled.

If she became a mom, she wanted to follow Summer's example and be the best super mom she could be. Thinking on it, she could see Jaune as a good dad and husband she smiled under her pillow thinking about how good from the dream.

"Yang you want the shower?" Ruby asked.

"I'll go last." Yang told her it did take her longer with her hair and down an arm. She really wasn't going to take her arm into the shower normally and especially not with that jagged hold in the damn thing. Besides there was another problem she was dealing with, that dream had ended before it got to the good part but she could feel the heat inside of her. She rubbed her thighs together to try and do something to help but it wasn't working. She was going to need to get into the shower and fix the issue herself when she was nice and alone.

While she waited her mind also went to a life with Jaune. Was she really thinking or at least dreaming about a life with him already? They weren't even a year into their relationship, hell even six months. So how could she be thinking about this already? Apparently, some part of her was thinking about it.

She thought long and hard and honestly the only thing that came t mind was, was she ever going to find a better guy than Jaune? He was dependable, he cared for them all and fought with everything he had. He pushed himself to the breaking point if only to just keep improving so he could help those that needed it and his friends.

As a boyfriend he already knew her more than any other guy ever did, he saw her for her and not some sex object or something like that. He was there for her in dark moments and he allowed her to return the favor by being there for him.

A life with Jaune?

She was starting to think that one day when they were both ready, maybe it was possible.

The thought made her pull the sheet over her head. She couldn't believe she was feeling this, the warmth in her chest, the giddiness about it all. She was pretty sure she was blushing at it but there it was. She had fallen for Jaune Arc and fallen hard.

"Yang the bathroom is all yours," Blake's voice called out.

Yang hadn't even realized it as she hopped off the bunch and quickly went into the bathroom, she didn't want anyone to see her heated face and she had a need that she had to take care off too.

"Wow she was more in a rush than usual." Weiss commented as the others nodded but shrugged it off as Yang just being Yang.

 **-Jaune-**

Jaune was back at Beacon as he was in one of the classrooms trying to get some assignment finished. The room was empty which was good because he really needed to get this done. He sighed trying to figure out what to do next when a pair of hands closed over his eyes.

"Guess who?"

"Velvet?"

"No, you dick!" Yang hit him in the arm.

He smiled up at her as she smiled back. "Sorry couldn't resist, what are you doing here?"

"Bored, wanted to see you." Yang told him.

Jaune smiled at her in her Beacon uniform as his eyes did linger on her legs a bit. He always did like a girl in a skirt and the stockings always was a nice touch for him. He wasn't sure why but the girl uniform at Beacon he always felt was, well, it was kind of hot for him.

Yang noticed his looks and grinned as she placed one of her legs on the chair next to him giving him a good look. "You know most guys stare at my chest not my legs."

"Their loss," Jaune swallowed.

Yang could only grin as she proceeded to straddle him catching him off guard as she wrapped her arms around his neck as she got comfortable on him.

"Y-Yang!" Jaune quickly looked around the empty classroom. "What if someone else comes in?"

"Classes are over for the day," She leaned in closer. "So why not enjoy it? You know you want to." She cooed at him kissing him gently on the lips. Jaune was torn between finishing his work and Yang sitting on him and kissing him. He ended up placing his hands on her wide hips running them along her sides hearing her moan into his mouth.

Okay maybe a little fun with Yang wouldn't kill him, right?

He loved the taste of her lips as she only deepened the kiss. She pulled back with a smile and smoldering eyes. He knew that look, she was planning something and he wasn't sure if he was going to enjoy it.

"Yang?"

"I think it's time to take it up a notch," She smiled as she started to unbutton her top.

Jaune felt himself frozen as he saw her undo her outer jacket and tossed it to the ground leaving her in the blouse. He wanted to say something but it died on his lips as she started to unbutton her blouse now, she opened it up exposing her blue bra to him.

It was a nice and sexy lacy one too.

"Like it? I bought it just for you," she said in a husky tone pulling him into a heated kiss.

He couldn't help himself now, he was losing himself in her as he kissed down her neck to her shoulder. She ran her hands through his hair pulling him to areas of her body. She eventually pulled him to the valley between her breasts kissing the area feeling the large soft mounds pressing up against him.

Yang moaned again as she started to feel something hard growing in Jaune's pants.

"I think you got something else for me," She told him as she reached under them and undid his pants and zipper. Jaune pulled back as she fished out his member her hand caressing it making it even harder as blood filled it. Yang stood up as he could only watch as she hooked her thumbs under her skirt and he saw her panties slide down. She stepped out of them as she sat above him guiding it under her skirt.

"Ready for a good time?" She asked him.

Jaune only nodded as he waited for her to slowly lower herself unto him.

"Hey Jaune time to get up!" Nora's voice called out to him causing him to jumped up and nearly hit his head on the ceiling of the bunk.

"W-what-where?" Jaune looked around as he looked down to see a smiling Nora looking up at him.

"Hey Jaune-Jaune, we're getting ready." Nora told him.

"Oh uh, okay yeah, um…does anyone else need to shower first?" Jaune asked as he quickly covered up the morning wood he was sporting. It was a problem he had learned to deal with living with mostly sisters and then later on with Nora and Pyrrha in the same room back in Beacon. Normally it wasn't a big issue but that dream had been a bit more intense than normal.

"Yeah given I'm the only girl Oscar and Ren said I can go in first for a shower." Nora shrugged.

"Okay sure, yeah that's fine," Jaune told her.

As Nora went into the bathroom Jaune tried to calm his body down, out of all the things to dream about it had to be one with Yang. Still, he did kind of miss seeing her in the Beacon uniform. It was strange to dream about being back at Beacon before everything happened. Yang had both arms again and they had been together back then as well. He mentally laughed at that thought, they were both different people back then and he never stood a chance with Yang back in the day.

He still wasn't entirely sure how a guy like him landed a girlfriend like her but he was thankful for it.

They all had come a long way and had grown and changed since they first got to Beacon. Yes, there were some painful things he wished they could have avoided but he was starting to like who he was again. After Pyrrha's death he started to hate himself, his weakness, his inability to help her. It had slowly been eating away at him like acid and he hadn't really noticed.

Yang was someone that helped him to overcome that.

He smiled thinking about her, her long golden hair, her beautiful eyes, her lips, everything about her made him smile.

"Jaune you're the last one," Ren told him.

"Oh, uh okay," Jaune quickly got into the bathroom as he started to get all the grim off him. He had been so tired he hadn't even showered when he got to the room. Feeling the warm water hit him felt great.

 **(M Rated scene)**

The only better thing he could think of is if Yang were with him. He paused as he blushed at that as the mental image of her naked and wet with him in this shower entered his mind. That dream wasn't too far off and he would be lying if he hadn't thought about Yang in a more sexual way lately. Who wouldn't? She was sex appeal personified to him but he wanted their first time to be special. He wanted to give her a full date and sweep her off her feet.

Maybe he was old fashioned but he wanted it to mean something and he wanted it with Yang.

Thinking back to that night in Argus when he was able to really feel her up that first time, he even fingered her to climax. The sounds she made how her warm her skin felt how her mouth felt on him when she returned the favor.

"Oh crap," Jaune looked down to see that he had a new problem at the moment. "Oh man why did I have to start thinking about that."

He wasn't sure what to do, he could wait for his erection to just go away but being blue balled wasn't fun either.

Well…he was alone…and Yang didn't mind him thinking of her in sexy ways…

He started to stroke himself gently using the liquid soap in the shower to help, he thought of Yang when she had been in her underwear that night at the hotel, how she felt in Argus, her moans, the feeling of her mouth on him again. Then he thought of the dream and started to think of how it would have ended.

With her riding him with her tops and bra thrown to the floor as he held her hips as she cried out his name. He closed his eyes thinking of her in the shower with him as he had her up against the wall as he entered her again and again.

Jaune leaned forward with one hand still stroking trying to keep himself quiet until he finally released himself. He grunted as he tried to aim for the drain as best he could. When he was finally done he felt better but also he tried to clean away anything left. With the water and soap all over it was easy, plus living in a house with so many sisters and then living in a dorm with two girls. Well he had to learn that the shower was one of the few places where someone would relieve themselves from any sexual tension.

He wondered if Yang ever did this, she had said she did.

What he didn't know was at that moment Yang was currently in the shower doing just that. She had just finished with her hair it was always one of the longest things she had to deal with given she only had one arm in the shower. She didn't like taking the arm with her into the shower normally and now that it had that huge hole in it from Adam, she wasn't going to get water and soap into it.

This led to her thinking of needing a new arm one that was water proof and without a weapon on it. Maybe she could get her current one converted? At any rate thinking of needing an extra pair of hands let her mind to think what if she could get Jaune into the shower with her. He had nice strong hands that felt great on her body. The thought of them running through her hair with the shampoo made her groan. Her mind went to his hands roaming over her body as she used the soap on herself.

"God, I wonder what his hands would feel like now?" She muttered letting the warm water hit her face. Maybe next time she got one of his special massages with the aura being put into her body she could let him touch her in more naughty places. The thought of that feeling she remembered from just her back hitting her breasts, stomach and thighs made her core heat up.

"Fuck it, I need this." She muttered as she started to use her hand to caress one of her breasts closing her eyes thinking of Jaune doing it to her. She thought back to the dream of them married of him taking her on the kitchen table. She started to pant as her hand went down to between her legs and started to play with herself. She thought of him thrusting into her from behind in the dream as she bit her lip.

Her back was now against the wall as she started to finger herself faster as she thought of him with her now. Him pressing her up against the wall, his body against hers as he was inside of her kissing her neck and his hands all over her body. She had to remember that her team was in the other room and did everything she could to fight off the sounds she wanted to make.

"Jaune, oh god Jaune," she whispered to herself. As she quickened her pace, she thought of Jaune doing the same as he would say her name in return, telling her how much she meant to him, how beautiful she was to him.

Yang stiffened as she finally reached her climax and let out a shuddering breath as she took a moment to come down from her high.

"Good thing I'm in a shower," Yang grinned as she started to clean up. She thought back to those condoms she still had and then thought about Jaune again.

"Oh, Vomit Boy I'm so going to rock your world when I get the chance," She smiled feeling much more relaxed now.

 **-Later-**

Breakfast turned out to be a fairly normal thing. They got together and made their way to the cafeteria with Penny leading the way. They all got in line with the other students, they did get some looks. Some looks were because they weren't in standard Atlas uniforms, some because they were totally new, Yang's arm was still showing damage to it which was a small one. Oscar got a few looks on why someone so young was there. The rest was most likely because Penny was with them and she was very well known now that her secret was out.

The only change to this breakfast was the seating as the couples were together of course. Jaune and Yang sitting next to each other, Ren and Nora across from them. Next to Yang and Nora were Weiss and Blake, then Ruby and Oscar sitting from each other and finally Penny next to Ruby.

At the very end were Maria and Qrow who also got some looks from an adult and a senior citizen also being in the student cafeteria.

"So, Penny," Ruby started seeing her just sitting there next to her with nothing in front of her. "I take it you don't need to eat then?"

"Oh no," Penny shook her head. "Although I can ingest liquids and organic matter, I don't have any taste buds."

"Wait so you can eat?" Oscar paused hearing that.

Penny tilted her head. "In a way…I mainly can convert organic matter into extra fuel but it's not needed. My father wanted me to pass for human and me not eating or drinking might seem out of place."

"Damn guess that means you can't get drunk then," Yang said with a shrug. On the plus side that would be great for no hangovers and not getting wasted. Although getting a little tipsy was kind of the point for drinking.

"No, it's one of the things I'll never experience," Penny said in a slightly sad tone.

"Well I don't think you're missing much on that point," Ruby assured her. "So if you don't need to eat what keeps you going?"

"Oh, I have the best battery cells in Atlas history, even more so when we first met," Penny happily told her. "I can recharge in a special bed that my father made for me although in cases when that isn't around, I can connect to any standard outlet."

"Wait you can charge yourself like a scroll?" Nora asked her.

"Somewhat it does take a very long time given my battery life." She explained.

"So, what are we going to do after breakfast?" Blake asked them.

"Oh, that's easy," Penny said. "We're going to see my father he's going to help fix and upgrade your equipment. He said he has a few ideas on how to improve based on recordings from the tournament but if you have any ideas, he would be glad to hear them."

"Cool, I've been meaning to get this fixed," Yang showed the damage on her arm. "Plus, I think I need something a bit more than just the small canon in it."

"I could use my weapon fixed," Blake nodded.

"Well I'm not going to say no," Jaune shrugged. "Although I'm not sure what they could do with my weapons."

"You could add dust to it like Blake," Weiss offered. "I know I'm going to need more dust to carry from now on as I don't think I have enough."

"No upgrades for your weapon?" Ruby asked her partner.

"I think I'm good but I'll see what he has to offer first," Weiss was more focused on her summoning and glyphs as she wanted to train in them more which unfortunately an upgraded weapon wouldn't really help with."

"I'm not sure what I can do with this," Oscar held up the small cane handle. Since it was collapsed it was easy to carry around with him.

"Maybe you could get a sidearm?" Ren offered. "It would give you some range."

"Hey yeah how come you never tired to get on?" Yang asked Jaune.

Jaune looked a bit embarrassed, "Well Pyrrha tried but I wasn't a very good shot."

Yang grinned, "Oh this I want to see. Hey Penny we got a firing range here?"

"Of course, Atlas spared no expense with the academy. There's a range for you to practice with your weapons as well as learn to use weapons. There are Atlas standard weapons you can try out while there for testing purposes."

"There are also state of the art training rooms as well that you can use later." Penny finished.

"It always pays to keep sharp," Maria said something finishing off her morning coffee. Some days she needed the extra jolt to get alert after all. "Maybe I can get my eyes looked at while we're here then. I was originally coming here to get my eyes checked up anyway."

"Now that I think about it," Blake said as something hit her. "If the train hadn't been attacked could you have still gotten to Atlas for that?"

Maria paused thinking about how there was still a blockade going on. "Huh…now that you mention it, I'm not sure. Well it's good that I followed you kids when I did then, this certainly has been the most excitement I've had in over a decade."

"Well then shall we go?" Qrow asked seeing that everyone was finished.

Once they put away their dishes in the try for the kitchen staff to clean up later, they made their way through the complex with Penny once again leading them.

"So what's your dad like?" Ruby asked.

"Oh he's such a wonderful father," Penny happily told them. "He's always done his best to try and explain things to me, teach me everything I need to know about being human and always makes sure things are going well for me."

"Sounds like a dad to me," Ruby nodded thinking of her own dad.

"Yes, he actually wanted to meet you," Penny told Ruby.

"Wait, why me?"

"Well you were my first friend and he said that a good friend is worth more than a mountain of Dust."

"He's not wrong," Blake commented smiling at her team.

"So, what about your team?" Ruby asked. "I mean I bet they were surprised you were a robot but I bet you all get together still right? I only met that one girl so I'm interested in seeing the others."

Penny's smile faltered a bit as she got a little quiet. "Actually, General Ironwood said I didn't need a team anymore. Since I was only placed with them to enter to tournament they weren't needed."

That got a few reactions out of everyone there. Qrow sighed and ran his hand through his hair shaking his head at hearing that.

"Well, you still see them, right?" Nora asked next.

"I see them but it's more of professional thing now," Penny explained. "I'm not a student here anymore since I'm working full time keeping Mantel safe."

"Isn't that lonely?" Weiss asked her knowing full well just how lonely life can be even among other people or even among family, you can still be lonely.

"Well now that Ruby is here, I have a friend now so I am happy." Penny smiled.

Jaune decided to speak up next. "Penny you know we're all your friends, too right?"

Penny paused as she turned to face the others with a surprised look on her face. "You are?"

Everyone blinked at that as Ruby shouted out. "Yes! Penny you're our friend as well. Why did you not think that?"

Penny shifted a bit. "I don't know-hic."

Ruby looked at her as she took a step closer. "Penny?"

"I…I'm okay -hic-I mean it's nothing-hic-."

"Are you okay?" Blake asked tilting her head.

"Yeah why all the hiccups?" Yang asked confused as to why a robot (albeit a very human one) could even hiccup to being with.

"What? I'm not hiccupping-hic."

Weiss picked up on it now, "It's a tell." Everyone looked at her as she explained. "She hiccups when she lies."

Ruby's eyes widened as she thought back to all the times Penny hiccupped in the past and smacked her forehead. "Oh, now it makes sense." She then went forward and gently grabbed Penny's hands as she looked her in the eye. "Penny you can tell us the truth."

Penny shyly dropped her hands as she fiddled with them, looking down at them. "When I came back online after the tournament people started to treat me differently. They were either scared of me or treated me like I was just a machine and not a person. My old team, I don't hang out with them because of just my job. They don't want to be around me, I make them uncomfortable."

"What!?" Weiss shouted out with her hands on her hips. "Well that's just silly."

"Yeah you're the coolest robot girl I know!" Nora threw her hands up.

"Technically she's the only one we know," Ren stated flatly.

"Exactly," Nora replied. "That's why she's the best."

"I may not know much about you as we've only just met," Oscar stated. "But from my time knowing you, you are a good person. Even though I know that you're made of metal and whatever else, I can't see you as just a robot. You feel, you smile and you care about others. That's not something just a machine can do."

Ruby smiled brightly at Oscar's words. "That's exactly right."

"Yeah in case you haven't noticed we're all a mixed bag here," Jaune stated as he thought about what to say next. He knew that only a few knew about this but maybe it was time to fully let it out. Besides he was done with the past trying to haunt him. "I lied to get into Beacon."

There were a few surprised looks at Jaune as Yang gave them a look that she would explain later if Jaune didn't. But no one called him out on it after all, Jaune had proven himself to them all time and time again.

Blake stepped forward as she looked at Penny. "I'm an ex-White Fang member."

"I'm an ex-heiress." Weiss smiled.

"Hell, I'm part robot already," Yang flexed her robotic arm.

"We're orphans," Ren said as Nora nodded.

"I have an immortal wizard in my head," Oscar shrugged.

"I got magic eye things," Ruby smiled. "So, you see we're all different and being a robot girl is no different. So yeah, we're all your friends."

"Face it Penny," Yang smiled at her. "You'd fit right in with our little weird circle of friends."

Penny felt a warmth inside of her it was the same one she felt that day she met Ruby and got her first friend. She felt it again when she told Ruby her secret of being a robot and she still accepted her and was still her friend. Now she had more friends, she had been so worried they would react the same way so she had been trying to keep some distance as she didn't want to cause any issues.

Turns out she was worrying for nothing she tightened her hands to her chest enjoying this feeling.

Then she blinked as something registered with her and looked at Ruby. "Magic eye thing?"

"Long story," Ruby sighed. "Come on I'll tell you on the way."

 **TBC…**


	33. Chapter 33: Upgrades

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 33: Upgrades**

Penny started to lead them down the hall from the student mess hall feeling much better now that the others said they were her friends. She never had so many friends before and the joy she was feeling was amazing to her. She had a spring her step, as she couldn't wait to introduce her father to all her new friends.

Ruby smiled at the sight of her robot friend glad that Penny was so happy. She was about to ask Penny about the kinds of material she could get access to in order to enhance her 'baby' Crescent Rose when a rainbow trail zoomed by and then turned around and came back in front of them.

"It is you guys!" A familiar Faunus girl shouted out seeing them. Ruby knew her from somewhere and it took a moment to remember who she was. This was the girl whose partner had faced Weiss and Yang in the doubles round in the tournament, the girl had changed her looks so it was harder for Ruby to recognize her.

The girl's normal organ hair with highlights had originally been in two large pigtails but was now in two smaller tight buns on her head. Her outfit was a bit different with a jacket and jumper of some kind under it. The girl looked behind them all and waved to someone coming up from behind their group.

"See Flynt! I told you it was them," She cheerfully said as everyone looked to see three others showing up.

One was Flynt Coal the team leader of Team FNKI who had been Neon Katt's partner in the doubles. They hadn't seen the other two at the tournament as a boy in white with blue hair and pale skin was with Flynt as well as another boy with short grayish hair, a slightly tanned complexion and glasses was on the other side.

"Well guess you were right," Flynt said with an easy smile. "Never thought I'd see you guys here, did you all transfer to Atlas Academy?"

"Not exactly," Weiss stated with a shrug. "It's kind of a long story."

"I dig it," Flynt nodded knowing that with the blockade going on it couldn't have been easy getting to Atlas. He nodded to his two friends. "Well you two never met the rest of our team but this here is Kobalt." He gestured to the blue haired one who nodded politely.

"And this here is Ivori," He gestured to the other who pushed up his glasses with a small nod and a smile.

"Good to meet you all," Ivori stated.

"And we got a few more people we haven't met before either," Neon said as she glided forward as she as wearing her ever present roller skate boots coming up to Jaune with a smile. "And what's your name?" She asked the tall and kind of cute looking guy in armor.

Yang's eye twitched as the girl was making moves on her boyfriend, oh sure there was no way the Faunus girl could know but this girl had an irritating way of pushing her buttons. Yang quickly linked his arm with hers making a show of pressing up against him.

"Jaune and he's taken," Yang simply said with a bit of an edge to it that practically screamed out that Neon was stepping in Yang's territory. The Faunus girl had surprised Jaune, as he wasn't used to girls coming up to him so strong like this. So he was thankful that Yang had stepped in.

"Ohhh," Neon rolled back a little sensing the mood. She didn't want to start a fight, especially since she knew just how much of a temper the blonde girl had from their fight in the festival. "Whoops totally didn't mean to step in your territory. Oh, hey you got a new arm. Last time I saw you, you were kind of, you know, passed out and missing one."

Yang's eyes narrowed slightly as she knew the girl wasn't trying to mess with her but damn it, Yang's newfound patience wasn't that great and this girl was in her mind, cruising for a bruising at this rate.

Neon's eyes traveled over the rest, the old woman she wasn't sure about, the old guy was kind of hot, in an 'old guy' kind of way. Maybe if he was a few more decades younger she might be interested. The dark haired guy wasn't exactly her type, he felt very reserved plus the way the short orange hair she was getting a vibe between the two of them.

Then her eyes landed on someone else and it was the cutest thing she had ever seen. She smiled as skated up to Oscar. "Oh aren't you the most adorable little man I've seen."

Oscar was taken aback by this unsure what to do or say. "Uh…thanks?"

Neon only grinned as quickly before anyone could do anything she pulled him into a tight hug. "Oh he's just like a big teddy bear. I just want to hug him all day long."

"Oh no," Ivori sighed this was one of the things they had to watch out for with Neon. She loved things she considered 'cute', which varied but they knew where this was going.

Oscar wasn't sure what happened at first, the older girl was just saying how she thought he was cute and the next thing she was pulling him into a tight hug, when she did he noticed a few things. First, she was stronger than she looked, the second was that she smelled nice and lastly because of the height difference he was pulled into her chest.

What he felt against his face he found to be very soft.

As Oscar's face went into a full on blush Ruby's did to but for different reasons. She wasn't sure why but she felt a nasty feeling in her guts towards the older girl. She had no idea why, she only knew that she didn't want to see anymore of this.

"I-I think you can let Oscar go now," Ruby told her as she was able to grab Oscar and pulled him away from the Faunus girl. "We're on our way to meet Penny's dad and all."

"Oh that's right," Penny had gotten distracted and forgot for a moment.

"Just a few more minutes," Neon made a motion to grab Oscar again as Ruby stepped in front of the boy.

"Uh Flynt," Weiss moved closer to the dark skinned boy in a whisper. "I think you might want to prevent your friend from starting a battle." Weiss wasn't sure what had gotten into Ruby but Yang looked ready to blow if the girl kept on like she had been.

Flynt nodded with a sigh he did consider Neon a great friend and teammate but she could try other people's patience without meaning to do it. He coughed getting their attention, "Well we can let you guys go, we got morning classes to get to after all."

Kobolt silently came up and put a hand on Neon pushing her the other way.

"Awwww," Neon pouted. "But I wanted to play with the cutie more."

"You can play later," Kobolt told her.

Ruby watched the girl go before checking on Oscar, he was still heavily blushing and looking very uncomfortable. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah I think so," Oscar said embarrassed by the whole thing.

"Maybe we should go on before we run into anyone else," Blake suggested with a bit of a smile on her face.

"Yeah we don't want Oscar to get molested by anymore cute girls," Qrow teased with his hands in his pockets as the boy got even more embarrassed by that statement.

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby said to him in a warning on teasing Oscar.

Without any further interruptions, the group finally made it to a set of large doors. As they opened they came into what looked like a very high tech workshop of some kind. Ruby's eyes widened at everything. Her inner weapons geek was going nuts thinking of all the cool things she could have done with her weapon growing up if she had access to all of this.

"Father, we're here," Penny called out.

"Well then it's good to see you all," an older voice spoke up as everyone looked at the speaker.

An older man with small glasses and dark skin welcomed them into his workshop. He had a very kind aura about him as she tugged on his vest with its little tool kit in one of the pockets. He also had this very large pink bowtie. What really caught everyone's attention was that the chair he was in suddenly came off the ground, as four mechanical legs that originally looked like just chair legs, were actual legs.

They moved his chair over to them all as he have a warm smile on his face as Penny went to hug him as he hugged her back. Ruby smiled seeing this, you could feel how much the two cared for each other and it made her miss her own dad. She hadn't talked to him since she left home and she was worried about him and how he was doing without any word from her or Yang.

' _Maybe when we leave Atlas we can swing by Patch to let dad know we're all okay,'_ Ruby did mail him a few letters but she missed seeing him.

"So my daughter tells me she's made some more friends," Penny's father said getting Ruby's attention. "I'm Dr. Pietro Polendina and it's so good to meet you all."

He focused on Ruby especially. "You most of all, my daughter has told me all kinds of things about you. Thank you for being there for my daughter."

"Oh it's no problem," Ruby smiled at him. "Penny is my friend after all."

Pietro smiled at the girl and looked the others over but his face fell a bit seeing Yang's arm. "What happened to that?"

"Oh yeah I heard you made this," Yang brought up her arm. "Got kind of into a major fight and-"

"You painted it."

Yang paused as that was not what she was expecting, it was damaged and the thing he focused on was the paint job? Wait, what was wrong with the paint job? She loved the colors she made for it and it matched her perfectly.

"Uh yeah, well I like the colors," Yang paused again. "Also I was hoping you can help me fix it?"

"Let me see," He got closer as Yang held out her arm, as he looked it over.

"Just seems to be surface damage, I can replace the plate and that should do it." He nodded his head although looking at the damage it wasn't a normal kind. Whatever did this had a lot of force behind it, much more than what he originally designed for it to take. He designed it in mind to fight off most types of Grimm but this wasn't a Grimm attack.

"Cool but uh, I was thinking of making another of these to replace the canon." Yang showed him her weapon.

"Is there an issue with the canon?" Pietro asked.

"A few things," Yang explained how reloading wasn't easy, it didn't hold as much ammo as her old one and not being able to take it into the shower for instance because it wasn't water tight with the exhaust vents for the canon was also a problem.

Pietro stroked his beard. "I see, well I can do you one better. How about I make a new arm? I can make it so that the weapon is build into it, I can even make it sturdier than the current model if you'd like."

Yang's eyes widened at that, she hadn't thought of just getting a new arm that would be great. Looking at her damaged one though she had one last thought.

"You think you can still fix this up and remake this?" Yang asked him. "I was hoping to have an arm that was water tight so I can use it in the shower or maybe swim. You know for more every day kind of stuff for when I'm just relaxing?"

Pietro smiled and nodded. "I'd have to remove the canon function but that shouldn't take me that long."

"Nice, thanks." Yang had been through a lot with this arm and she didn't just want to throw it away so if she could have it remade into an arm she could use for showering, swimming or even just hanging out that would be great.

Blake stepped forward and she pulled out her broken weapon. "I'm also looking to get my weapon fixed."

"Oh my, that won't do at all," Pietro said adjusting his glasses looking at it. "Well that's why you're all here. We have plenty of resources to help upgrade your equipment." He turned around as he gestured to a group of bins with their symbols on it. "Please place your equipment there and we can get started. I've reviewed your battles from the Vytal Festival so I have a few ideas to run by you all but if you have any suggestions please let me know."

"Well it's good to see that you're still up and working," Maria stated walking forward as the others started to place their weapons away.

Pietro had a blank look on his face as the old woman was talking to him as if she knew him.

"You gave me my eyes?" Maria told him pointing to them but there was still a pause. "Every ten years I come to get them checked out?"

"Oh yes, every ten years I remember now," Pietro smiled as his memory of her finally clicked.

Maria gave him a calculating look, she wasn't sure if he actually remembered or not. Not that she really cared if he remembered, she saw him only once every ten years after all ever since she lost her eyes. Although the last time she had seen him, he had remembered her. A part of her was wondering if age was catching up to him.

It happened a lot, with age, certain things go and the mind going she had seen happen. It was actually one of the things she always was worried about happening to herself. She travelled and lived alone so if her mind went she would be in big trouble and not even know it. It would be like when she had been blinded that day, frantically using her semblance and weapon to get to the nearest settlement for help had been the worst moment in her life.

The pain and fear she was worried would lead Grimm to her before she could get to help, when she got there, she made up a story of being attacked by a Grimm and somehow got away. Those first few weeks of being blind had been like hell. She was scared someone else would finish the job or she would be left defenseless for any other kind of trouble.

She had gotten a ticket to Atlas after the doctor told her of a man that made cybernetics and could help her to see him. That trip to Mantel had been a long one for her she had to hire a huntsman as a guide and secretly a bodyguard. She hated feeling of being helpless since for someone like her who had been one of the greatest Huntresses of her time it had been like falling into a deep dark hole with no light and no way out.

Pietro thankfully had seen her he even made her a priority. That first time she opened her new 'eyes' seeing the world in shades of blue was both a blessing and disappointing. She had been warned that it wouldn't be as good as her old sight, cybernetics being a new science and all. She did at least enjoy being able to see again, she hadn't felt so helpless at that point. When she saw herself in the mirror however, at the large metallic bug-like eyes she had now.

Well she had been beautiful once, she still had a pretty face but the eyes she knew would be a turn off. She was resigned to this however, she couldn't allow others to guard her forever, and she had to learn how to survive. That was the day the Grimm Reaper truly 'died' and she spent the rest of her life hiding, moving from town to town, keeping a low profile, never knowing who had hired those mercenaries to attack her or why.

Well she had an idea now, if that was a blessing or a curse she was still unsure of.

She watched as he went to work on Yang's arm and she could wait for her own maintenance. Her eyes hadn't been glitching out since the aircraft so she was fine. Besides, she wanted to keep an eye out for Pietro. The man looked more worn out than she remembered and for the man that gave her sight again, she thought it was the least she could do.

Yang watched as he placed her now detached arm into some kind of device, it was flat with robotic arms with either grips or tools attacked to it with a workstation next to it.

"I have the plans right here," Pietro said from the workstation. "I just need to make some adjustments and the forge will do the rest."

"The forge?" Ruby asked looking excited at it.

"My own design," Pietro told her. "It allows me to make anything I need to the tiniest detail, since my hands aren't what they used to be."

He smiled holing up a hand that slightly trembled. He had built this because his hands had gone a few years back and delicate work was beyond him now. Even the strength in them had faded a bit but he knew how to get around such setbacks.

After a few moments he active it as they watched the limbs go to work. They held Yang's arm in place as the ones with tools went to work. One started to cut away at the damaged section with a laser as another started to open up the rest of the arm. While one worked on the damage, the other worked on removing the canon. Yang was impressed by how fast it was going, in no time the damaged section was taken away and a piece of metal was transported into the area from a slot on the table.

More of the robotic limbs came and started cutting the piece into an exact shape of the damaged section. By this point, the canon was now fully removed and the slits were being welded shut. Yang stood transfixed as her arm was quickly being remade before her eyes, she never wondered how her arm was build but looking at it now, she had a guess it had to have been built right here.

Ruby was nearly gushing at it all as her eyes darted around to keep track of everything. Her mind going to all kinds of places of what she could make with something like this, all the custom parts she could make for her weapon.

By the end of it Yang watched as the arm was reassembled and finally a matching yellow paint was put onto the reworked areas. It looked as good as new, she had to wait for the paint to dry but she was wondering what her next arm would be like now. This model she could use for more mundane things but her new 'battle arm' as she thought of it, well she was looking forward to that.

They spent most of the time working with Pietro as he told him his ideas for their weapons and they gave some impute back, he made notes and showed them some of the designs he had planned for them. Jaune was looking at the images of what the man had planned for his shield, he told him about the upgrades he already did but Pietro looked and said he would be able to work with it still.

That actually made Jaune happy the plan was to make his shield able to use hard-light for more protection and could even use other element types. A part of him wondered what his family would say if they saw what had become of their family weapon but Saphron had been supportive of the changes he made to it. He was sure his ancestors would approve as well, at least he hoped.

Weiss wasn't so worried about her own weapon, maybe some maintenance work on it and replacing a few parts to get it to switch dust faster. Blake also didn't want much as she was looking to have her sword repaired. Pietro did say he could reforge the blade at least to make it stronger than ever. Given what happened, Blake hoped it was she didn't want her weapon to break like that in a battle again.

Nora's weapon was getting a bit of an upgrade as she asked if she could ride her weapon. Everyone thought she was just being, well Nora but Pietro seemed to take it as a personal challenge. He did offer her a new belt though. Apparently, the buckle would hold lightning dust she could activate as needed. Nora's eyes lit up at the thought of getting super strong whenever she needed it, she had to have someone like Ruby shoot her with a lightning dust round for it to work.

"Oh man I can't wait to test this out," Nora grinned at the thought of getting super strong whenever she wanted to.

"Just be sure you're not touching anyone when you activate it," Pietro warned her. "You don't want to accidentally send a charge to them."

"Ohhh, good idea," Nora nodded.

Various other were going on with their possible items and by the time lunch rolled around, they were looking forward to a break. Yang went to where the arm was and ran her hand over the new metal testing the paint.

"How's it look?" Blake asked.

Yang pulled back her hand and saw that there was some paint transfer. She signed at that, "Still too wet unless I want to have yellow paint all over the place. If it's not done by the end of the today it should be ready tomorrow."

"Sorry," Blake told her.

Yang shrugged. "Hey I went weeks with only one arm while I was recovering. One more day won't kill me." Then an idea hit her making her grin.

Blake saw it and knew she was up to something. "What?"

"Oh nothing," Yang still grinned. "I just remembered that I got an attentive boyfriend who might help his girlfriend eat if she asks."

"I thought you said you had plenty of experience with only one arm?" Blake crossed her arms raising an eyebrow.

"Hush, let me have this," Yang told her.

Lunch ended up being the same as breakfast with them sitting together and getting a few looks.

"Um…Yang are you sure?" Jaune asked her with a fork with some food stuck to it. He was holding it out to her.

"You're going to let your girlfriend starve?" She said giving him a puppy dog eyes look at him she even put out her bottom lip just a bit to help sell it.

"O-okay," Jaune crumbled under the look. He hated it when girls were sad, maybe it was his upbringing with all his sisters and how closer his family was. Add to the fact that it was Yang asking for help, well he really couldn't muster up the courage to say 'no' to her in moments like this.

So he reached out as she slowly took a bite of a steak with her teeth. She made a show of it slowly pulling it back giving him a look in the eyes that made him blush and started to feel very warm all of a sudden.

"Yang please I'm trying to eat," Qrow sighed seeing his niece pull off a move like that. He didn't mind the relationship she had with Jaune, hell over the time they have been together they had been good for each other. That didn't mean he wanted to see stuff like that, not that he was trying to quick drinking at least.

"Yes please," Weiss stated being across from Yang.

"You're just jealous I have a boyfriend," Yang waved it off.

"I do not!" Weiss stated.

While they were finished, Jaune noticed that the cafeteria had an outside section. "Hey I didn't see that before."

A few turned to look outside it was a nice spacious place with some tables set up with a great view of the city.

"I'm actually surprised there is an open area, I mean wouldn't it be cold?" Ruby asked.

"Oh I can answer that," Penny spoke up although she didn't eat she had joined them the entire time just happy to talk with them. "There are heating units used when this area is open. Some students like the view so I'm told."

"Huh, neat," Yang nodded her head.

Jaune however took a longer look as his mind was starting to come up with something. Penny got a message that Winter wanted to talk to everyone so she was to lead them to her office. As they walked on he took a moment to walk up next to the robot girl.

"Hey Penny can I ask you something?" Jaune said in a hushed tone.

"Of course friend Jaune, what can I do for you?" Penny felt nice being able to call more than just Ruby as a friend. Of course, Ruby would always remain her best and first friend. It was just nice having more.

"About that outside section," Jaune whispered what he had planned. "Do you think it's possible to get access to it after normal hours for that?"

"It should not be a problem." Penny nodded her head. "Normally students wouldn't be allowed but since you are special guests here for General Ironwood you all have special privileges. I take it that his is supposed to be a surprise?"

Jaune nodded his head he would have to get a few more to help but he really wanted to do this. He had been thinking about doing something like this for a while now but they literally had no time for anything lately. He really wanted this to go through without a hitch. Casting a look back he saw that Blake, Weiss and Yang were in a deep conversation about something so Yang hadn't noticed thankfully that he was talking to Penny.

Penny smiled and nodded, "You can count on me, after all I kept that I was a robot secret so this shouldn't be too hard in comparison."

Jaune smiled back thankful for her help, he would have to do something nice for her later as repayment, he just didn't know what.

"Hey what are you two talking about?" Yang asked finally noticing and asking them curious as to what was going on.

Jaune had a bit of a panic there as they had learned that Penny was horrible at lying with her hiccupping every time. He could see the girl panicking as well as her tell was known to them all. Jaune tried to think of something quick. "Oh I was…just…wondering if Penny would like to hang out. I mean we're all friends right?"

"Oh we can have a sleepover with Penny!" Ruby shouted out her eyes dancing at it.

"I've never been to a sleep over before," Penny admitted.

"Cool then we can do that tonight," Yang nodded her head. "Nora you can join us of course, we'll make it a girls night."

"Oh yeah I'm totally in," Nora nodded her head. "We can break out the sleeping bags too."

"Yeah the bunks are only made for one person and not much else." Blake nodded her head. It would be nice to hang out and just relax. It would almost be something normal for a chance, no life and death fights, no dealing with insanity or world-shaking events, just them enjoying themselves.

"What about you guys?" Yang asked Jaune.

Jaune looked to Ren and Oscar, "I guess we'll have a night of our own?"

"Sounds fine to me," Ren nodded.

"Sure I mean what else would we really do?" Oscar shrugged with a small smile.

"Too bad I gave up drinking," Qrow stated. "I know of a few places I could have showed you guys."

"Uncle Qrow," Ruby chided him. "You know they don't drink and Oscar wouldn't be able to get into most places you like to go to."

Qrow shrugged. "Yeah that's true. Sorry about that kid."

"I'm…not too broken up about that," Oscar said with some relief in his voice.

They rode up the elevator to Winter's office as they entered, the place was neat and tidy with very little in the way of personal decorations. There were a few items, there was a photo on the desk but they couldn't see what it was now, as it wasn't facing them. There were a couple of awards on one wall that she must have been proud of along with a plant in the room. Although on closer inspection it was plastic, apparently she either didn't remember to water a real one or just didn't want the hassle of taking care of one.

Qrow was very tempted to just start moving things around her office, just a little to see if she would do anything. He had a feeling she liked everything in just the right place and might be a tad OCD about placements. Maybe later he could get into her office if she left the window opened and start moving things around. He tried very hard to keep the grin off his face at the idea. Hey, he had quick drinking, he needed a new hobby to make up for it and he and Tai had been decent at playing pranks back in school together.

"Good you're all here," Winter stood up and opened up a case as she handed out small devices to everyone. "These are the new generation of scrolls that we have been working on."

The scroll was just a single piece it was much smaller than a normal one. Ruby hit a button as a screen came out the side. It wasn't two pieces you pulled out anymore this had a simple power button and open button on the physical part of it with your typical touch screen controls on it.

"Wow, slick," Yang looked at the screen she would play with it later when she got her arm back.

"There is also the matter of funding," Winter stated.

Oscar knew that without Ozpin being active he couldn't access those funds that Ozpin kept around for new reincarnations. So he was glad that General Ironwood was helping them out with this.

"Keep in mind that the General is giving you some funds to purchase some clothing and gear," Winter stated. "Although I know you brought some with you from Argus, it would be good for you all to have something extra or replacements."

"Yeah that will be nice," Blake had only one set of clothing for winter wear so it was nice to get something more for later. They had no idea how long they would be in Atlas after all so some extra clothing would be welcomed.

"Oh I sense a shopping trip." Yang grinned seeing the money that Winter pulled out.

"If you'd like I can have a ship send you to a shopping district in Atlas." Winter told them.

"Well we do have some time to kill," Weiss stated, as their gear would take some time to be ready for them. It would also be nice to get out and look around.

"We could use some extra things," Ren wanted to get some tea for their room as it helped him to relax.

"I could use a few books to read," Blake admitted that she hadn't really gotten the chance to look around Argus for any bookstores.

"Well sounds like you're going to have an afternoon of fun," Maria stated. "I think I'll stick around though, I'm not as young as I used to be and walking around shopping is something for the young."

"Well you need anything?" Ruby asked her.

Maria thought about it, "Sure I'll give you a few things to look out for me if you don't mind."

"I don't mind at all," Ruby really didn't mind, Maria had been very helpful to her in unlocking her eyes plus she held a lot of experience that Ruby wanted to tap into.

"Penny I'll have you look after them," Winter stated. "But keep yourself aware for any Grimm warnings."

"Rodger," Penny saluted.

 **-Mantel-**

In a small apartment building, Cinder was sitting on a sofa looking through the stations on the TV. She wasn't interesting in the programming, what she was trying to do was get a feel for the situation. The apartment was actually a safe house, one of many she was sure, that the Crooked Man used. She had access to one on Atlas that she had used once before. It was one that she had set up a couple of years ago while here on a mission for Salem.

The only reason she wasn't using that one was that she had to stay near the Cooked Man and Adam. There was still no word from the Doctor but he had only just started to process. She figured if Adam lived, it would take some time for him to be fully up and ready to fight again. Although this place wasn't up to her usual standards, at least it was decent enough.

So far she had seen a lot of talk about the situation in Mantel and Atlas, Mantel was like a pressure pot nearing the boiling point. Ironwood wasn't helping things as his grip on the city was tight and people were getting frustrated. The fact that most of the dust wasn't being shipped out meant that a lot of the economy that Mantel was tied to was taking a huge hit.

She said most because she knew that the Crooked Man had a smuggling business for dust.

Still, she knew that eventually that man was going to ask for her and Neo's help in exchange for his hospitality. Looking at the screen in front of her about a news report on high arrest rates and more violent crimes being committed she couldn't help but smile. Atlas was supposedly the most secure nation with the most powerful military and yet here it was almost on the edge of toppling and Cinder hadn't even done a thing.

Beacon had taken careful planning but this? If she had to take Atlas down all it would take is just the right push in the right places and the whole deck of cards would come crashing down. She would love to see Atlas fall and burn, if only to see the look on Ironwood's face when it happened. There were other things she needed to do first as she knew Salem had Atlas on her list of targets.

In fact she was sure that Atlas would be next on the list, most likely Watts would he sent to deal with it. He could already be here actually but he was a slippery one, he never liked to confront a problem head on. He liked to come at it from the side and safely from a distance if he could. She would have to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary just in case.

Still, now that she knew that the Relics were all under the schools in vaults she needed to open them with a different Maiden's power. She needed to find the Winter Maiden and take her powers given she missed the Spring Maiden. She growled a bit at the memory of Raven. She was going to get back at her. Maybe make Raven watch her pitiful tribe of bandits burned before killing her and taking her powers.

At any rate she wasn't one hundred percent sure she could even take more than one power, no one on Remnant had ever held more than one Maiden power at a time. But then again she wasn't like most other Maidens. The Grimm inside of her could still take more power, so she would take the Winter Maiden get the Relic that should be enough to get her back into Salem's good graces.

Oh and to kill Ruby Rose, that too was something she was looking forward to doing.

 **TBC…**

 **Just so everyone knows I'm doing some character chapters for a bit, need to build some stuff up before all the excitement happens as there might not be any down time for them. Plus given the show skipped over a few weeks there is plenty that can happen in that amount of time.**


	34. Chapter 34: Of Shopping and Sleepovers

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 34: Of Shopping and Sleepovers**

The shopping district they arrived in at Atlas was like everything else in Atlas, large, very opulent design to it all and looked so expensive that they were wasting money just standing around looking at everything. The place was busy with people as shoppers went about their day it was totally different from Mantel. People just walked around without a care in the world, it was odd to say the least for them as it was a sudden shift in how people lived.

Looking around at how expensive everything looked Blake checked the funds they had been given. "We have enough for this place right?"

"Yeah everything looks really expensive." Nora nodded.

"It's not actually that bad," Weiss stated leading the way as everyone started to follow her. "There are actually more expensive areas to shop in."

Yang shrugged. "Well she would know."

Weiss had been able to afford very expensive items in the past when she had still been heiress to the SDC dust company. Of course now she had to be much more careful with her funds, an old part of her was used to just paying for things with her father's credit card as long as she stayed within her monthly limit that is.

Looking around she noticed a few people were giving them looks, she knew that they were judging them from their clothing to how they carried themselves. It was something she didn't miss about being in Atlas. How certain people always judged you to see if you were above or below them in the social order.

"So where to first?" Jaune asked looking around.

"I say we just walk around and see what there is," Blake shrugged her shoulders.

With no real destination in mind, they did just that. They looked at several stores while they talked, joked and just hung out. As they were passing a clothing store, Yang something caught her eye as she stopped and looked through the window. "Oh my god that's gorgeous."

"What?" Jaune asked looking around.

"Come on I have to see this," Yang pulled him inside as Blake and Weiss followed them. She led them inside as they saw her stop in front of a very nice yellow dress that had an exposed back, slit up the side with straps on it with decent cleavage without being slutty.

"Oh my god I have to try this on," Yang grinned.

It didn't take long to ask a clerk if she could try on the dress. It was a little difficult as she had to do this with one arm only but she managed. She did have to take off her bra so that it wouldn't show while wearing the dress. For a moment, she had the naughty idea of asking Jaune to come in and help her out. His reaction would certainly be entertaining and he would get an eye full of her but she didn't want them to start getting carried away.

She had been thinking of going all the way with Jaune but she wanted it as a special moment between them and not in some random store. She wasn't sure she could go through with it if they were caught and being kicked out of a store for that wouldn't be good for anyone. Besides she left the condoms she bought in her room hidden under a few items she had with her.

It took a little effort but she came out and looked herself in the large mirror as she did a few poses.

"Damn I look good in this," She smiled and turned to the side. "Plus it makes my ass look amazing."

She cast a look to the others and saw the look Jaune was giving her. She took her hand and turned her hair into a rough ponytail giving him a good side profile. "So what do you think Jaune? Would I look better with my hair up or down in this?"

"Uh…w-well, I mean, uh…" Jaune was having a lot of trouble focusing. Ever since she came out he had been captivated by her looks. He swallowed hard as the dress seemed to be made for her, giving him a good look at her figure without being slutty. It held a type of style and class to it and he suddenly remembered. This was the woman he was dating this beauty was the one that chose to be with him.

"I think you broke him," Blake smirked crossing her arms looking at a nice black dress.

"This comes with a matching purse if you're interested," a sales clerk came up and showed off a matching yellow purse with a thing strap to it.

Yang took it and put it on her shoulder she really did look like a classy woman with this, maybe a movie star on the runway or something. With some makeup and her hair tone up just right she would kill in this thing. "How much?"

The price nearly gave her a heart attack it was worth _that_ much? She suddenly felt very careful with the dress at the moment as she could put all her clothing together to be worth as much as this one dress. She looked at it with a depressed expression, she could get it but it would eat way too much into their budget. She would have to wait to see how much she had left over but even then, she knew she wouldn't have enough.

"Well I'll have to think on it," Yang told her as she went to change.

"Ouch, that's expensive," Ruby muttered.

"It is high quality so of course it is," Weiss told her. "You do get what you pay for in Atlas."

"Too bad she really looked like she wanted it," Ruby sighed.

Jaune had noticed it too as he wished he could have bought it but they all had limited funds at the moment but maybe he could work something out. As they left the store to keep looking Jaune told them he would catch up as he quickly went to the clerk.

"Hey uh, can you save that dress for my girlfriend for later?" He asked the woman behind the counter.

"Well…" she thought about it as they sometimes did do it. "I can only hold it for a little while as other costumers will want to buy it."

"That's fine, I'll be back later." Jaune hoped he would be back later. He knew that alone he didn't have much in the way of getting it himself. Maybe if he got the others to pull whatever they had left over it might be enough as a surprise for Yang. He had a plan to really surprise her and this dress would help him in doing just that. He might need some better clothing himself but he might get away with something not as good as that dress.

He caught up to them as they continued on they found a more reasonable shops with clothing they could afford. Ruby was glad a few things she had bought in Haven were still with her as her unique style was hard to find in Atlas. The others were finding it a bit easier with some things to buy.

"Oh my god is that a spa?" Yang pointed out.

Weiss took a look knowing the brand name as it was a spa that had several stores over Atlas, "Yes it is."

"We so got to go," Yang grinned.

"I don't know," Ruby was never comfortable in places like that she was never really into the really 'girly' stuff that most girls liked. She was more comfortable covered in grease and grim from weapon maintenance then makeup and hairstyles growing up.

"I think we deserve it," Weiss stated as everyone looked at her. "We've all been through a lot and honestly I could use a little pampering. We have been under stress ever since we all left Haven and I think we all need this."

"It might be nice," Blake was a bit hesitant to say it, as she wasn't sure they could just spend the money on it but they did have a decent amount left.

"I think it's a good idea," Yang nodded her head.

"I'm thinking I could get my hair done as well," Weiss told them.

"You're changing your hair?" Ruby asked. "You've had the same hair for as long as I known you."

"Yes well I think it's time for a change," Weiss stated. "We've all grown and changed since Beacon, I think it's time for me to change with it." Weiss knew that she wasn't the same person anymore, that day she escaped from her home and ran away from Atlas was the day she had finally thrown off the shackles of her father. She didn't care about pleasing him anymore just to allow her to do what she wanted.

She knew what she wanted in life now and she was going to do it on her own terms, in her own way. She didn't need the approval of others anymore, not her father and not even her sister. She wanted to become her own person now and move forward into a future she would make with her own two hands.

"We've all changed huh?" Blake took a piece of her long dark hair in her fingers. They have changed since those days at Beacon, she did feel different now.

"Plus some of us could use a haircut," Weiss cast a look at Ruby and Jaune.

"Wait, me!?" Ruby pointed at herself.

"What's wrong with my hair?" Jaune ran his hand through it.

"Yeah what's wrong with them?" Yang stated placing a hand on her hip.

"They are both getting too long, especially Jaune's," Weiss stated in her defense. "In a few more weeks his hair will keep getting in his eyes and hinder his performance."

Jaune cast a look up as he could see the bangs of his hair in his vision and had to admit, she had a point. He hadn't had a chance for a hair cut in months.

"I like long hair," Yang pouted.

"Well perhaps they could at least style it where there is still plenty but so it won't get in the way." Weiss offered a compromise.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Jaune asked.

"Yes but I get girlfriend privileges," Yang told him with a sweet smile on her face at him.

"What about you Penny?" Ruby asked her friend. "I mean does your hair and skin even need care?"

"Oh yes," Penny nodded her head but then tilted it as she thought about it. "Although it is different, since my skin and hair are artificial and I don't sweat I don't need to keep it as clean as you would. Plus my hair is actually made of thing nylon fibers that only look and feel likes hair."

"I think I'll pass," Oscar stated. "This isn't really for me either."

"Oh then that means the three of us can-ack!" Ruby was cut off as Yang grabbed her by the cloak and pulled her along.

"Nope you're coming sis," Yang stated. "Think of it as team bonding."

Penny and Oscar went looking around together as the others started to either walk into the establishment or forced into it in a couple of cases. Jaune, Ren and Nora opted for just a trim, Nora felt her hair had grown a bit too much as she preferred it a little shorter.

Team RWBY got pulled into a full on experience with Weiss, said girl was relaxing as she was in a chair that was set back into a sink as her hair was washed, a beauty mask put onto her face as her nails were being done and getting a pedicure.

She sighed in contentment, it had been most likely a year since she got this much treatment. Back when she lived at home and went to school moments like this were one of the few breaks she got in her life. Breaks she could just let loose, she didn't have to worry about her family life, her father loaming over her nearly constantly, the stress of constantly putting up her best face in the public. All of it let to constant stress and this was one of the few things that helped to get rid of it.

After everything they had gone through and being back in Atlas she needed a good de-stressing.

"Are you sure this is okay?" Ruby asked next to her. "It feels weird."

"Just relax and let them do their work Ruby, they are professionals."

"Okay," Ruby muttered trusting her partner.

"Yeah this is nice," Yang stated as this was one of the few exceptions she would let someone else touch her hair.

"I don't think I've ever had something like this," Blake hummed.

"Well don't get used to it," Weiss stated. "This is coming out of our limited funds. Honestly I'm not sure what we'll do after this."

"Well when we were going to Haven we did the odd job here and there," Ruby told her. "Maybe General Ironwood will let us do that too?"

"Maybe, we're not official huntresses though so I'm not sure how that will work." Blake told her.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Yang said.

After that, some of them opted for getting haircuts, Yang flat out refused as she considered her hair sacred. So she left them to it as she walked out of the place and saw the others waiting by a bench.

"Hey guys, find anything interesting?" Yang asked them feeling slightly refreshed after all of that. Looking them over Ren and Nora were pretty much the same only with Nora's hair shorter almost like back it was at Beacon as it had grown to her shoulders when she met them in Haven again. Ren's was cleaned up a bit to look more professional she guessed.

Her eyes rested on Jaune's, "Whoa, you did get it cut."

Jaune ran a hand through his new hair, the back and sides were all trim now and his hair had lost some of its length as it was shorter but still held a bit of that wild hairstyle she he always associated with him.

"Yeah I felt the need for a change," Jaune stated rubbing the back of his head feeling the very short hairs there. "You like it?"

Yang cocked her hip as she judged him and came up and ran her hand through his hair. The back was all business but the top still held enough for her to run her hands through. "Yeah I think I can get to like this."

"Is this the usual courting ritual that youths do?" Penny whispered to the others.

"I suppose?" Ren shrugged his shoulders as the relationship between him and Nora was fairly new still. "Every couple is different though."

"Oh, thank you for clarifying." Penny nodded her thanks.

"Well that was enjoyable," Weiss stated as eventually the three of them left the building. Her ponytail was now in a large new twisting style to it as it hung differently off her head. The rest of her hair was now styled closer to frame her face. "I feel like a new person."

"In a way you could say it's a rebirth," Blake shrugged with a small smile. Her hair was now very short in a bobcut style. She had wanted a change to herself after what happened with Adam. She needed a change as a sign of moving forward and cutting ties with the past. She didn't want her past to hold so much weight on her like it had. Ever since she left the White Fang she had felt that invisible weight on her soul as it only seemed to get worse and worse over time.

Now she felt like she could put that weight down and finally move forward at her own pace.

"I don't know about this new style," Ruby muttered as she ran her hands through her still short hair. Only now, it as a bit shorter with a slightly choppier and spikier, Weiss said it was stylish but she had always been kind of a simple taste kind of girl.

"Blake what did you do to your hair!?" Yang stated seeing Blake's radical hair style.

"Y-you don't like it?" Blake felt a bit self-conscious about it.

"Well…no," Yang tilted her head as she was sitting next to Jaune. "It's just that you had such a lovely full set of hair. I could never do that to my hair."

"Well I think it looks nice," Weiss stated with a smile to her friend.

"Thanks Weiss."

"Hey I didn't say it wasn't good," Yang defended herself.

"You guys look good," Jaune quickly stated trying to change the subject a bit to get Yang from digging herself deeper.

"I don't know," Ruby played with her bangs. "I don't know about this."

"Well I think it looks nice," Oscar shrugged seeing her looking a little unsure so he wanted to give her a bit of a confidence boost.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, it, uh…well, it looks cute?" Oscar blushed as the words just rather slipped out of his mouth. He hated how awkward he felt at times like this.

Ruby didn't say anything as she cheeks heated up slightly at that as she shuffled her feet feeling slightly awkward herself. "Oh, well, uh, thanks Oscar."

"That's just too adorable," Yang whispered to Jaune.

"What is?" He had been distracted and didn't see Ruby and Oscar's interaction.

Yang rolled her eyes and shook her head, sometimes Jaune could be a bit dense but it was all part of his charm she guessed.

 **-That Night-**

The girls had a long day and they were eager to let loose a bit. They had already showered and changed into their sleepwear as Nora joined them taking her bedroll she used on the trip to Haven with her since with only four beds she would have to be on the floor. She honestly didn't mind since it was still more comfortable than some of the nights they had slept out in the open while on the road.

Penny was the last to arrive as she knocked and then opened the door. "Salutations everyone."

While everyone had changed, Penny was still in her normal dress.

"You didn't change?" Ruby asked.

"Oh I don't have sleep wear like that," Penny shook her head. "Since I don't really sleep in a bed."

"Wait, what exactly do you sleep in?" Blake asked the girl.

"It's more of a capsule," Penny explained. "I don't get tired and just kind of stand in it while I'm in sleep mode and recharging."

"Oh…well, that's certainly…" Blake looked around for some help.

"Penny like?" Yang shrugged as she adjusted her robotic arm. She had gotten it back a few hours ago as the paint had fully dried. She could still smell it a bit if it was closer to her face but at least it wasn't too powerful a smell. She had spent the time getting used to it, while it worked the same it wasn't as heavy as before with the armaments taken out so she felt a bit lop sided for a bit.

"So what do we do at one of these?" Penny asked excited.

"Well we got some movies," Nora pulled out her new scroll to set it to the TV in the room.

"Got some video games," Ruby grinned.

"Also have the snack foods," Blake commented and pointed to a table with some sodas and chips.

"Plus we usually just do things like do each other's hair or makeup," Yang smirked at one time she dragged Ruby into that when they were back in Patch. Boy, had he been upset after being pulled into the room and turned into their little doll. To be fair Yang and her friends were only twelve at the time.

"Excellent, I am willing to learn all about the female bonding experience." Penny stated.

They started with watching a film they were only half-paying attention to it as they couldn't help but run commentary about it. Weiss was annoyed at first, as she usually didn't like talking through a film but she wasn't that invested in the film and she needed to ask some clarification on some parts.

After the film, Ruby put in a fighting video game, as they would switch off, with the winner staying and the loser being replaced by a new player. Yang had so far gone through everyone so far, she was used to beating Ruby, Nora had been a bit more a challenge, Blake had been okay but she wasn't really into video games.

Weiss had been utterly defeated with a two flawless victories in her own match.

"Uh..but…wha…" Weiss looked at the controls on her scroll to the screen. "What happened!?"

"You got your butt kicked," Yang grinned.

"Yang you could have shown a little mercy there, this is the first time Weiss ever played a video game." Ruby tried to chide her sister.

"Mercy is for the weak," Yang grinned.

"May I give it a try?" Penny asked.

"Sure," Weiss groaned handing the controller over to her looking depressed. She never did like losing and the kind of lose she had just gone through was humiliating.

"So have you played before?" Yang asked.

"Oh no but I took the time to memorize the controls watching you all play." Penny smiled.

"Good, then let's go." Yang stated.

"Very well," Penny had analyzed the matches, memorizing the controls and movements. Each character had different fighting abilities, she noticed that Yang preferred the ones that did the most damage but they were slower. Penny also while the games had gone on had looked up the game online and found something called a strategy guide that held moves and combos.

When the game started, Penny was already moving her character, Yang did her best but Penny had found that the game came with a 'parry' system that allowed a player to defend an attack if a counter was perfectly timed. Penny had analyzed Yang's reaction speed and her own reactions were above a normal human's so she could block and parry her attacks with ease.

"What the hell!?" Yang was now getting frustrated because she couldn't land a single hit, this was like going up against the computer but on the highest difficulty.

"Come on, ease up a little," Yang told her.

"I thought mercy was for the weak?" Penny said knocking Yang's character out.

"Yes, we have been avenged!" Ruby shouted with everyone else cheering while Yang just sat there silently fuming to herself and thinking that a certain robot girl needed to be nerfed.

After that the group started to catch up with Penny more, telling them of everything that happened after Beacon, at least the important bits as she explained how she had been doing with her new body and her job of protecting Mantel. Weiss ended up sitting behind the girl as she braided her long orange hair.

Ruby snickered seeing this causing her partner to look at her. "What?"

"I was just remembering when we first met and how you made fun of us hanging out and braiding each other's hair." Ruby explained.

Weiss thought about it, "Oh I did say that didn't I?"

"Yep you also mentioned talking about boys," Yang smirked remembering that first day. "What did you call Jaune? Tall, blonde and…damn I forget what was the last part again?"

"Scraggly I think?" Weiss tried to remember and then sighed. "I really was horrible back then."

"You weren't so bad," Ruby trailed off.

"Ruby it's fine, I accepted who I was and who I am now. Both the good and the bad," Weiss finished her final touches on Penny's hair. "You know Penny for artificial hair this is very life like."

"Thank you Weiss, my father took great pains to make sure I could pass for human when he designed me originally."

"You know it's funny in a way," Yang sighed as she stretched out onto her back on the floor. "I think this is the most normal thing we've done in forever."

"It has been crazy," Nora laughed. "Between everything just to get here we only really had some down time in Haven and a little in Argus."

"It is nice to relax," Blake said from her bed as she was reading a book.

"And it's nice that I have friends to do things like this with," Penny smiled as she checked out her long ponytail. "Oh thank you Weiss, this looks very nice."

"It does kind of fit you," Ruby smiled.

"Now we just need to do make up and talk boys," Yang laughed. "Well for those of us lucky enough to have someone."

Weiss rolled her eyes, "Just how long are you going to keep up this happy couple thing? It's getting a bit annoying."

Yang looked at her with a large grin, "What's the matter Weiss, jealous?"

"I think it's just in poor taste to flaunt it all the time," Weiss huffed crossing her arms and looking away.

"I have wondered what it would be like to be in a relationship." Penny tilted her head.

"Oh, you like someone or something Penny?" Ruby asked.

Penny shook her head. "Oh no nothing like that. But I do feel emotions and I've wondered if I'll ever feel something for someone that I've seen in Nora and Yang feels for their partners."

"Blake also got together with Sun too," Yang grinned at her partner who only blushed and hid her face behind her book further.

"Sensational," Penny happily said about the information.

Yang then thought of something, "Uh…just how close to real are you Penny?"

"What do you mean?" The girl tilted her head in confusion.

"Well are you, I mean…can you have sex?" Yang asked her.

Penny got a little uncomfortable at the mention of that. "Well, not exactly. I don't have the full functions of a human at the moment."

"At the moment?" Nora tilted her head.

"I'm sure if I ask my father can upgrade me for such activities as he said he wanted me to be as human as possible."

"That will be an awkward talk," Yang laughed at the mental image of such a thing. "Well I guess first you'll have to figure out what kind of person you like first."

"I believe that is a valid first step," Penny nodded.

"Well I'm sure you'll find someone someday Penny," Ruby told her.

"And if you do you got at least three friends who can tell you all you need to know," Yang offered. "I mean between me, Blake and Nora we got you covered."

"Hey, why was I not included?" Weiss said slightly offended by that.

"You ever even kissed anyone yet?" Nora asked her not sure how far she and Neptune had gotten but she didn't think it had been very far.

Weiss slumped down as she realized that out of everyone only she and Ruby hadn't had anything going on. Sure, she had kind of been with Neptune or at least went to a dance with him and hung out a little but she never got a kiss from him. After that, well there had been no real time and it wasn't as if she just walked around looking for someone either.

"Yep you were too Ice Queen on Jaune and I figured you took things a bit slow with Neptune," Yang grinned and then suddenly snatched Ruby into a headlock. "And of course there's no way my baby sister has done anything."

"Yang!" Ruby tried to struggle out of the headlock, she hated it when Yang did things like this and also the 'baby' part she didn't care for either. Couldn't she just say younger sister? "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh come on like you'd ever kiss anyone by this point," Yang laughed.

"Yes I ha-I mean…no." Ruby paused as she had blurted it out without really thinking, Yang was just pushing her buttons and it just kind of came out. She was hoping that Yang didn't notice but when her big sister suddenly went very quiet and still she had a horrible feeling.

"Ruby…is there something you want to tell us?" Yang said evenly.

"No! Nothing to tell!" Ruby quickly said but now everyone was interested in the crimson reaper.

"Spill Ruby or else you know what will happen." Yang threatened her.

Ruby's eyes widened, "No! Not that, you can't do that I'm too old for that!"

"Big Sisters always get their way sis," Yang teased. "Now spill."

"Never! Weiss, help!"

"Do it Yang," Weiss crossed her arms as she ignored the wailing of her partner. Ruby had kept some vital information from the group and she wanted to know. There was also the fact that she couldn't believe that _Ruby_ of all people, the weapon and cookie maniac, who was _two years_ younger than Weiss and still acted a bit child like at times had beaten her to kissing someone.

It was bad enough that Ruby had developed since their time apart to be slightly larger than Weiss' own chest. It just wasn't fair, what is all the milk that she drank?

"I'm interested in this too," Blake put her book down.

"Interrogate her!" Nora cried.

"Am I supposed to do something?" Penny asked conflicted, as the actions didn't seem malicious even though Ruby was struggling for help.

"Naw don't worry about it, this is a sister thing," Yang said and quickly shifted her arms so that Ruby was out of the head lock and started to mercilessly tickle her little sister. Ruby started laughing as Yang had years to learn where Ruby's most sensitive areas were. The downside for Ruby was that all the laughing made it impossible to concentrate to use her semblance to get away if she wanted to.

"Talk!" Yang told her.

"Never!" Ruby said between laughs.

"I got all night Ruby," Yang smiled.

Ruby tried to hold out but after a couple of minutes, she couldn't take it anymore. She tried to hold out but there was only so much she could take.

"Oscar! I kissed Oscar!" Ruby admitted.

Yang stopped her attack surprised by that statement and then grinned down at her. "Oh so that date you two went on did have something happen."

"It wasn't a date! It happened after that in Haven," Ruby told her getting her breathing back under control.

"Okay I think we need some details," Nora grinned finding some of the left over popcorn from the movie and started to much on it.

"Do I have to?" Ruby moaned.

"Yes," Mostly everyone replied.

Ruby groaned so she explained it all. "Look I found him outside at night and we just got to talking. He was worried about things like how he not be himself for much longer. You know how Ozpin said their minds would merge or something? Well it's really getting to him and I just wanted to help, we started talking and he started on things he always wanted to do and I kept pushing and he admitted he always wanted to…you know…"

"Wanted what?" Weiss asked as Ruby muttered something. "Ruby speak up, it's bad manners to mutter like that."

"He said he never kissed a girl," Ruby blushed.

Yang laughed, "And what, you offered to help?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time okay!" Ruby flushed. "I don't know why, I just wanted to help him out and well…I never kissed a boy either…so I thought as long as we were helping each other…"

Yang shook her head out of all the things she expected this wasn't it. "That's just adorable."

"Yang!" Ruby grumbled.

"I was not aware that friends could help with experiencing kissing," Penny tilted her head.

"Normally they don't." Blake stated looking at their team's leader. "So, was it any good?"

"Blake!" Ruby couldn't believe that Blake was getting in on this.

"Well first time kissing isn't always that great," Blake shrugged. "I know mine was clumsy."

"Yeah mine sucked too," Yang frowned remembering that boy in Signal she had dated for like a week.

"It was, good." Ruby blushed remembering how well it had actually been for her.

"Looks more than just good," Nora grinned seeing Ruby blush even further.

"Wow was he really that good sis?" Yang teased only to see Ruby blush even more. "Damn looks like that little guy has some skills. So you're sure you two aren't a thing?"

"Yang we're just friends," Ruby protested again.

Yang frowned she wasn't sure if Ruby meant it or just didn't know her own feelings. She honestly wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, Ruby had never really crushed on anyone before and she most likely didn't know what the feelings she might be feeling were. Then a devious idea grew in her mind as she pulled out her scroll.

"Yang, what are you doing?" Ruby narrowed her eyes knowing her sister was up to something.

"Don't worry about it, so Penny you said you needed more data right?" Yang asked finishing her message.

"That would be helpful to gain experience so that I can properly understand human relationships, yes." The robot girl nodded.

There was a knock at the door at that moment as Yang got up to open it. She revealed a very confused Oscar standing there with a scroll in his hand.

"Uh, you said you wanted to see me?" Oscar asked.

"Yep and you are just the person I need to help Penny with an experiment." Yang wrapped her arm around his shoulders as Oscar very carefully tried to not pay attention to the fact that because of the height difference he was at eye level with her chest.

"Yang what are you doing?" Ruby didn't like where this was going.

"Easy sis after all Oscar doesn't seem to mind helping a friend," Yang stated.

"Help with what?" Oscar asked.

"See Penny has never kissed anyone and if she wants to, I was hoping you would help her out."

"Wait-what!?" Oscar looked at her shocked before looking at Penny.

"Oh that is a wonderful idea," Penny happily said, finally, she would get the chance to experience something every other human did. She really did want to further her understanding of human interactions and relationships and this would be a vital chance. From what Ruby had confessed to it shouldn't be a problem since she helped Oscar so it was only logical in her mind that Oscar could help her.

"I-I-I don't know…" Oscar was starting to sweat a little.

"What's the problem, after all my sis helped you out in the same way… _right_?" She put a bit more pressure on her arm to let him know she knew.

Oscar quickly looked to Ruby in shocked betrayal.

"She tortured it out of me!" Ruby defended herself.

"You were tickled," Weiss stated evenly.

"Exactly! That's got to be against some kind of law." Ruby protested.

Oscar wasn't sure what to do here, he was getting subtle hints that Yang wasn't very pleased with this information but she wasn't pummeling him into the ground, at least not yet. He looked to Penny who had a hopeful and innocent expression that he found kind of hard to say 'no' to. She really did look like she was looking forward to it and he felt like denying her would be like kicking a puppy.

"I…I guess I can help?" Oscar said in a defeated tone.

"Sensational," Penny walked over to him as she tilted her head. "So how does one proceed?"

"I guess we just lean into each other?" Oscar told her. He wasn't totally opposed to the idea, Penny was cute and he didn't care that she was a robot under that fake skin. She acted like a real person and had real emotions. She was alive in every sense that mattered to him so her not being 'real' wasn't an issue.

What was, was that Ruby was silently watching and he felt weird about it. A part of him didn't want to do this with Ruby watching.

"Oh and make it a good one, it's her first time after all." Yang said in a singsong voice.

"Good one, right." Oscar muttered as Penny leaned in. She was a bit taller than him, so it took a moment to get the right position. He gently pressed his lips to hers cupping the side of her face. Her lips weren't as warm as Ruby's were and there was a stiffness to Penny, most likely because she had no instincts on how to react. Eventually he pulled away blushing as Penny pulled back and looking thoughtful.

Ruby felt an ugly feeling in her stomach again, it was the same feeling she felt when that Neon girl had hugged Oscar. She didn't like this feeling and she really didn't like that it was aimed at Penny. Penny was her friend and she didn't like feeling nasty things about friends.

Thankfully it was finally over.

"So how was it Robot Girl?" Yang smiled.

"It was very pleasant," Penny nodded coming to a conclusion. "However I don't know if I 'prefer boys or girls' as you stated. I still need more data."

"Makes sense I guess," Blake shrugged. "That was the only kiss you ever had, you might need to kiss a girl to get the full effect."

Penny thought about it and nodded. "You are correct Blake, Ruby?"

"Yes, wha-" She didn't get to finish as Penny who had been standing next to her acted before Ruby could do anything and kissed her. Penny tried to copy how Oscar did it as it was her only resource on how it was done in her memory.

Ruby blushed more than ever as the shock paralyzed her in place for a second before pulling back. "P-Penny!"

"Did I do it wrong?" Penny tilted her head confused.

"Y-you don't just kiss someone randomly like that!" Ruby stated taking a step back. "I don't even like girls that way." At least she was sure she didn't, she never had thoughts of being with a girl before at any rate.

"Oh I'm sorry I seemed to have overstepped, my apologies." Penny bowed slightly.

"Y-yeah, sure, okay." Ruby knew it was just a honest mistake on Penny's part she still had problems with some social points after all. Still it would have been at least nice if she had asked her first before kissing her like that.

"Well now that was something," Yang nudged Oscar who had been staring at the scene.

"Y-yeah," He muttered, he never really seen two girls kiss before. He wasn't sure why but he kind of liked it, or maybe it was because Ruby was involved? He felt so confused at this point. "C-can I go now?"

"Sure thing, I think we got all that we needed," Yang nodded her head.

"Oscar wait up," Ruby went after him as she caught up to him and they left the room as she closed the door to give them some privacy. "I'm so sorry about all of this, telling Yang that we, we k-kissed…and all of this."

"No I get it, well mostly get it," Oscar scratched the back of his head. "At least Yang didn't kill me."

"Yeah there's that," Ruby nervously shuffled as the two stayed there in the hallway as an awkward silence came over them. "So…was Penny better at kissing than me?"

"What?"

"I mean-well-I didn't have any experience and I was worried when we did it-you know-that looking back on it…" Ruby flustered in trying to explain it. She didn't know why she asked she just felt compelled to know if Penny's kiss had been better than her own with him.

"N-no yours was much better," Oscar blushed.

"Really?" Ruby shyly looked at him.

Oscar nodded his head, as he couldn't bring himself to actually say the words. That kiss had been his first and it would always be a special place in his memories but Ruby's had been better. Her lips were softer and more warmth to them. He felt himself heating up remembering that night.

"Well I, well I'll be going back to my room." He stated.

"Yeah I better get back," Ruby opened the door to see everyone had been listening to it behind it as they tried to pull back to make it as if they hadn't been trying spy on them.

"Seriously!?" Ruby flung her arms up at them.

 **TBC…**


	35. Chapter 35: Duets

**Heart to Heart**

 **Chapter 35: Duets**

After Ruby returned to the room everyone went back to their positions. Yang decided to focus back onto their robotic friend. "So Penny, any closer to figuring out your sexuality?"

Penny tilted her head as she thought about it but then frowned. "I am sorry but no, I still don't seem to know if I prefer boys or girls. Perhaps I need more data to compare?"

"Well don't look at me," Weiss stated. "I also think Ruby is out as well."

Ruby blushed as she averted her eyes at Penny for a moment as she scratched the back of her head. "Yeah, sorry Penny."

"Oh it's no issue," Penny shook her head with a smile. "You are not interested in sexual relations with women is all."

"Why does it have to be sexual? Can't you just say romantic?" Weiss huffed crossing her arms.

"Is there a difference?" Penny tilted her head. "Isn't the point of romance to establish a partner for the purposes of reproduction?"

"There's more to it than that." Blake commented.

"Oh?" Penny looked at Blake.

"It's…hard to describe," Blake closed her eyes as she thought of Sun and how he made her feel. "Sometimes it's like this warmth wrapping around you, a light you can always go to when things seem dark."

"It can also be just having someone that takes away the loneliness," Nora said in a soft tone. "Someone that's special to you that you never want them to leave your life."

"Someone that can pick you up and hold you together when you feel like breaking," Yang stated remembering that night together in the hotel when Jaune had just held her after that nightmare. "The point is, it means something different for different people. But the point is, when you find that special someone in your life, it will mean a lot to you."

Penny considered that. "Well then I hope to one day find such a person as it sounds wonderful."

"It can be, but it can also be difficult," Blake sighed at both being away from Sun but also how Sun's antics could annoy her at times. On the other side, it was his antics she also sometimes needed to lighten her day.

"Eh, everything has ups and downs," Yang still remembered that argument she had with Jaune when he had been so angry after hearing the whole story about Ozma and Salem from them. She was glad that Jaune was doing much better now, after Argus it felt like Jaune had put his demons away for the most part. Maybe she had too she hadn't had any shakes lately so that was an improvement but it was still too early to tell for herself.

"Still," Penny said after hearing all that. "I do wish I could understand what I liked if only to help me understand myself more."

"Well maybe you're just bisexual?" Yang offered. "If you don't have a preference that is."

"You could also be asexual," Blake had been thinking about it and if Penny had no attraction when she had kissed Oscar or Ruby it was either they weren't her type or she didn't feel sexual feelings.

"Wait that first one I know but not the second," Ruby said confused.

Penny tilted her head as she accessed the Atlas data net. "Oh I see, a person who has no sexual feelings or desires or who is not sexually attracted to anyone. That could be a possibility, I do feel for others but I have never felt sexual excitement even after experiences my first two kisses."

"Maybe Ruby and Oscar just don't do it for you," Nora waved it off.

"Are we seriously back to the sex talk?" Weiss rolled her eyes.

"What's the matter Weiss," Yang grinned at the white haired girl. "Feeling a little out in the cold?"

Weiss gave the blonde a hard look for that.

Penny thought back to Beacon, "I thought you and Neptune were seeing each other?"

The robot girl then noticed a few of the others behind Weiss making a cutting motion to their throats to stop her from bringing it up as Weiss got a darker look on her face. Penny wasn't an expert in humanity but she could at the very least tell something was wrong.

Weiss took a deep breath before letting it out. "I'm not seeing him anymore."

"Yeah the guy couldn't stop flirting," Yang explained to Penny before turning back to Weiss. "But cheer up, we're in a whole new city filled with possibilities for Weiss-cream to land herself someone or at the very least maybe some nice eye candy boy toy?"

"Yang if I want a relationship I want it to mean something," Weiss already saw from the marriage of her parents how a loveless relationship could ruin people. Her mother was drinking herself to drawn her pain and sorrows and her father, her father she realized never really cared about anything other than himself.

No, she wanted a relationship that would be meaningful and fulfilling.

"Just throwing ideas out there," Yang held up her hands.

"I don't know, maybe I should just focus on the job at hand," Weiss sighed as she lay down on her bed.

"So what is the job at hand?" Nora asked.

"Well first keep this safe," Ruby padded the relic that was sitting on a table.

"It sucks we can't just have the Winter Maiden, whoever that is, open up the vault and just dump it inside," Nora groaned. "It would at least give us a safe place to put it."

"Penny do you know anything about the Winter Maiden?" Ruby asked her friend.

"Sadly not much," Penny shook her head. "I only know she's here in a secure area, I never even met the woman."

Blake thought that was strange but then maybe it was just her being slightly paranoid. The Maidens were powerful after all and if she was frail like Ironwood suggested then maybe keeping her safe was for the best.

"Okay so until a new Maiden or we get the Spring one to open the vault back in Haven." Ruby was cut off by a snort by Yang as her sister had a scowl on her face. "We'll have to keep it safe until we can safely do one of those."

"Next I think helping the General with his plan in any way is the next big step." Ruby said.

"I agree," Weiss nodded her head thinking about it. "Restoring the world's communications would be invaluable."

"Okay so then, what's after that?" Nora asked as everyone gave her blank looks. "I mean there's still Salem out there and she'll be after the Relics and the whole, you know, taking over the world. Wait was it taking over the world or destroying it?"

"I'm…not sure?" Yang thought about it even after everything they had learned what was Salem's end goal?

"I mean in the past she wanted to rule to world with Ozma and maybe be seen as some kind of goddess?" Blake thought back to what Jinn had shown them.

"Yeah but does it seem like that now?" Blake asked.

"It's been a long time, her plans could have changed," Weiss rubbed her head. "Honestly maybe we shouldn't assume we know exactly what she plans, only what she wants."

"So Relics and possibly the world in chaos," Yang sighed. "I guess after this we'll most likely head to Shade Academy if they aren't already next on the hit list."

"Let's hope that it isn't for now," Ruby told them. "At any rate I think we got our plan of action. Keep the relic safe, help Ironwood, get to Shade and see if anything is going on there."

"Sounds like we're going to be busy," Yang flopped onto the floor. "I was really hoping for some nice dates with Jaune and all of us having some fun while here."

"Can't play all the time Yang," Blake told her partner.

"Yeah yeah, still I better get in some quality time with my man or I'm going to get cranky." Yang muttered.

"You make it sound like you're not getting a morning coffee." Nora grinned.

"Or you and pancakes?" Yang fired back good-naturedly.

"Hey I love my pancakes." Nora told her.

"Which do you love more, Ren or pancakes?" Yang grinned.

"Don't make me choose!" Nora said in horror as everyone had a good laugh at that.

The rest of the night was pretty uneventful for them as they passed the time until it was getting late and they decided eventually to turn in. All in all it had been a fun night for them to unwind and just be themselves for the night. Penny had enjoyed her first slumber party. Actually, it had also been Weiss' first as well since she hadn't been allowed to have children over growing up. Not that she had many she could even consider friends as a child she could have invited.

The next morning Weiss woke up first as she stretched out and looked around the room. Nora was on the ground in a sleeping bag snoring as Penny was sitting down against the wall a cable was connected to the 'bow' in the back of her hair as it was plugged into the wall. She was thankful the girl at least 'slept' with her eyes closed because if she just sat there with her eyes open Weiss wasn't sure if she could have slept through that.

Weiss slipped out of her bunk and decided to get to the bathroom first. She had to quietly step around the mess left in their room. She mentally sighed at what they would have to do to clean up later. She noticed that Blake and Ruby were still fast asleep Yang was holding her pillow like it was someone while muttering something.

She had a feeling she didn't want to know what Yang was dreaming about as she claimed the bathroom as her for the morning.

Breakfast was the usual for them as they spent the morning after that with Penny's father. They were going over what progress had been made. It was surprisingly quick how fast he was working Penny had gone off to Mantel for her daily patrols.

The girl took her job as Protector of Mantel very seriously, which to Weiss was a good thing.

Since all of their equipment was, still being worked on they had the full day off. Not sure, of what to do they decided on exploring the place for a bit. They got a brief look at the place when they first showed up but they hadn't really had the chance to get a good look at the facilities. The training room turned out to be more advanced than in Beacon. It was a chamber with squares patterns on all the walls, floor and ceiling.

All the squares could be adjusted to make different platforms, walls and many other artificial environments. Currently the students were using it as they stayed in the observation area to watch. It was interesting to see everyone's fighting styles, semblances it all reminded them of being back in Beacon before everything went crazy.

They found a gym facility, as Nora and Yang were eager to get in some workout time. Yang of course told Jaune he needed to keep himself in top shape, as he gave no argument as they made plans to visit the gym later.

They found the library, which seemed larger than the one at Beacon as they looked around.

"Wow they must have everything here." Jaune stated looking around the huge room.

"We could use this to read up on some Grimm we will find here," Weiss said remembering the Apathy and how unprepared they had been facing such a creature. She didn't want to be caught off guard like that again.

"I wonder if they have any comics here?" Ruby asked looking around as Weiss rolled her eyes.

They spent a little time looking through the books Blake found one she wanted to check out apparently, after that they moved on.

There was even a large indoor pool by the gym area as they walked in and the smell of chlorine pool water hit them as they entered the heated room.

"Wow that's big," Nora stated seeing the length of the pool. "Oh! We never did get to get any beach time in Argus."

"We would have frozen in the water if we had," Ren told her.

"Oh I can't wait to try out my arm now in that," Yang smiled. "It's supposed to be water proof now and I can go swimming with it."

They could see a few people wearing uniform swimsuits, the men in trunks and the women in one piece suits.

"So do we have to wear those or our own?" Ruby asked seeing a few people in the pool.

"Oh rules over here," Nora said seeing the board secured to the wall with a list of rules. "Ah it says here you can wear your own but has to be appropriate, well what's appropriate?"

"I can think of a few things," Yang teased as she pressed up against Jaune. "So Lover Boy which would you prefer me in? The one piece like that or see if I can get a bikini?"

"B-bikini?" Jaune asked as his mind went back to when he saw her in her underwear that night in the hotel room and how she had said to just imagine her in a swimsuit. Back then, he tried not to think about it but now that they were together, it was something he secretly did enjoy thinking about now.

"Oh yeah I'm thinking a yellow one that covers just enough," Yang teased him further.

"Yang," Jaune groaned.

Yang was amused by his reaction but it did feel nice to know he appreciated her looks she did put a lot of work into looking as good as she did after all. She trailed a finger over his chest looking up at him with a slightly lustful look. "Oh don't worry I plan on getting an eyeful of my man in a swimsuit when we can as well."

"O-oh," Jaune blushed at the look she was giving him, as he was very tempted to see her in a swimsuit now.

"Alright I think we should go before we have to throw you two into the pool to cool off," Weiss stated flatly.

They continued to explore the facilities as eventually they found one of the recreation rooms, there were multiple as with the number of people in the building was huge, several were needed to keep from overcrowding. Some apparently were for only student use, other for members of the military and such. They decided to crash in one of the student ones. It seemed with the students in classes and everyone else on a work shift they had the place to themselves for the time.

Weiss noticed that Yang and Jaune sat on a couch together as they were playing around with each other smiling and laughing. Weiss was glad that both of them seemed to be doing much better although seeing them was also making Weiss think on things. Seeing how happy Yang was with Jaune it made Weiss question if he would have made her that happy back at school if she had given him a chance.

Looking around she noticed that Nora was napping with her head on Ren's lap as he was reading a book silently. One hand was slowly stroking the orange hair. Blake was nearby also reading one of her books. Weiss did notice the slight blush on the Faunus girl's face while reading.

Weiss fought back a sigh as she decided to head back to the room only to see Ruby and Oscar together in the room playing video games.

"You're getting better at this," Ruby said as she quickly thumbed in the commands for her character.

"Thanks, it's kind of fun." Oscar stated.

Weiss left them to it as she found herself alone again. She didn't mind it but after last night, her mind kept going to the fact that she was single and seeing mostly everyone else happy in their relationships was starting to get to her. Yang and Jaune were going strong with Ren and Nora not far behind, she was thankful that Ren was a bit more reserved. Blake was with Sun although they were currently separated by miles now.

Still, Blake at least had someone out there.

Then there was whatever was going on between Ruby and Oscar, it was painfully obvious something was going on between the two of them but they were either oblivious to it or were avoiding the issue. Still, even Ruby was ahead of her with actually having kissed a boy. Well also, a girl since last night but Weiss didn't think that really counted as Ruby hadn't been looking for that.

In a huff she just started to wonder the building, it was a large building and she just wanted to explore and learn about the place and maybe take her mind off things. She certainly did have a lot on her mind, other than her lack of any kind of love life, there was also the fact just being in Atlas made her dread what was coming. As soon as her father found out she was here he would try to contact her and Weiss did not want to do that. After how he treated her last time, she was in no hurry to be in the same room as him.

She didn't even want to be on the same continent.

Then there was Salem and everything they had learned. She had no idea how they could win, maybe they couldn't. Maybe the only thing they could do is what Ozpin had been doing and making a stalemate for eternity. That choice felt like trying to keep a mountain on your back but given the other option it was the only one they had. Had Ozpin really been forced to bear this kind of weight for centuries if not longer?

To think, the entire world was unaware that everything had been on the knife's edge for so long that it most likely predated recorded history. She had grown up like everyone else, not even aware of the true state of the world, how it could all come crashing down at any moment.

She sighed pushing those thoughts aside, she couldn't control how the world was, she had learned that the only control she had was with herself and her own actions. She could do what she could and nothing more and nothing less and in a way she found peace with that.

As she explored the building, she found that certain areas had security doors or warnings about being off limits. It made sense as the academy and military in Atlas were practically the same thing for the most part.

She was just wondering until her ears picked up faint sounds of music. She paused as she slowly followed it, it sounded like a band was playing. The area she was in wasn't in use as she was the only person walking the hallway. She found a door not too far away and opened it.

The music spilled out as she looked in to see what looked like some kind of storage room. There were some creates and what looked like extra furniture. Her musically trained ear could tell that the acoustics in the room were very good it might have been the curving design to the room.

In the center of the room was none other than Flynt Coal playing on his trumpet. She looked to a wooden box to the side of him that had a scroll on it. This she noticed was where the rest of the music was playing coming from as a song was being played on it. She decided to stand there and listen to the music taking it in. She had been trained more in classical music and singing but this held a very gentle and flowing tone that she found relaxing.

She could hear flutes, some string instruments and light drums being played with the drummer using the symbol constantly but in a very light fashion. Flynt was adding his own flair to the music with his trumpet playing. As the music wound down, he then seemed to take a break hitting the pause function.

"That was very nice." Weiss stated.

"Whoa!" Flynt jumped turning around surprised to see Weiss there. "Give a guy a heart attack why don't you."

"Oh! I'm sorry," Weiss' hands went to her mouth. "I didn't mean to scare you I just heard some music and followed it here."

Flynt shook his head, "No harm no foul." He paused seeing her. "New look I see."

"Yes we all felt we needed a bit of a change," Weiss explained.

Flynt nodded his head and gestured to the room. "Well it seems you found my little sanctuary."

"Sanctuary?" Weiss asked raising an eyebrow.

"It's a place I found where I can practice my music in peace and quiet without bothering anyone." He explained. "Took me two months to find this place, when I did I found that no one really used this anymore. I think this room is pretty much forgotten about as it was a bit dusty when I found it."

Given the size of the building, some of the students always heard rumors of hidden rooms or rooms long forgotten about. Sometimes there were stories of people found long since dead in such a room as no one had found the body until years after the fact. There was no proof of that last one but it would make for a poor ghost story if people knew it was all fake.

"So you just come here to get away from it all?"

"In a way," Flynt nodded. "Don't get me wrong I love my team but sometimes you just need some 'me' time, you dig?"

"Yes." Weiss knew all too well that sometimes she needed some time alone from her friends and teammates. They were as close as family but sometimes she needed a breather.

"So what brings you down to this area?" He asked taking a water bottle from a small duffle bag on a couch that had a small rip in the corner.

"Looking for some 'me' time," Weiss simply stated she decided to change the subject. "What kind of music is that?"

"Never heard of jazz?" Flynt asked her raising an eyebrow.

"No," Weiss shook her head. "My father 'insisted' that I only learn from the classics as befitting of a Schnee."

Flynt could hear the venom in her voice, when he first met her he thought all Schnee's were cut from the same cloth. Their battle in the tournament proved otherwise when she had used herself to try and take him out of the fight and had sacrificed herself, taking herself out of the fight for it.

"Well then if you would like an education in one of the finest musical styles ever, I will be happy to show you."

Weiss smiled a bit at that as she smoothed out hers skirt as she took a seat on the old beat up couch. "I think I would like that, if that song was any indication I might just like it."

"Well then let's get to something you might enjoy," Flynt looked through his scroll and found a song as he hit the play button and got ready bringing his trumpet up to his lips.

A piano and drums started as Flynt soon joined in after a few seconds. The song started slow but then slowly picked up a bit more. It become a bit livelier but still had this flow to the song that made Weiss sway slightly to the music. For the moment all, her worries were pushed away as she just focused on the music in front of her.

It wasn't like any music she had heard before and she found herself enjoying it. She listened in as Flynt went into more songs after this one and they all had this 'flow' to the music. By the time he needed a break Weiss found she had listened to several songs.

"So what do you think?" Flynt asked taking another drink of the now nearly drained water bottle.

"I enjoyed it," Weiss smiled with a nod. "You really played the music very well too."

"Well thank you," He tipped his hat to her. "Nice to see someone else finally taking a shine to my music."

"I take it the rest of your team doesn't like jazz music?" Weiss asked knowing the kind of different taste people can have after living with her team for so long.

"Well they can take it or leave it but we all have various tastes." Flynt explained to her. "Neon likes club music and dubstep."

"What's dubstep?" Weiss tilted her head.

"You're…better off not knowing," Flynt never could get into that style of music himself. It was just so random and chaotic for him, maybe that's why it fit so well with Neon.

"Kobolt is ironically into blues music," Flynt actually liked blues but he preferred jazz.

"Another music type I don't know," Weiss muttered just how much had her father kept her from learning?

"It's not bad, I can give you some choice songs if you want."

"Thank you I would very much appreciate it. What about the last one, Ivory I think his name was?" Weiss had a good memory but she only met the boy once.

"Good memory, yeah he's more into classic rock."

"Wait I heard of Rock or at least Rock and Roll," Rooming with Yang who love to listen to music without headphones sometimes at least got Weiss exposed to some different types of music. Although Yang had once tried to explain the difference between Rock, Metal, Electronic and club music but sadly she had only paid a little attention to Yang's explanation at the time.

"So there's a classical Rock?" Weiss' mind went to trying to think of the classical period she had to learn growing up and though it was more like that.

"It was from an older time, like twenty years or more ago," He explained. "It's changed a bit with every decade but Ivory preferred the older period styles. But getting back to my music, you really liked it huh?"

Weiss smiled, "Yes I did. There was this, it's hard to explain. Like a flow and yet seemed to be so free without being chaotic."

Flynt nodded his head understanding the meaning behind her words. "Oh I think I know what you mean, first time I heard it I felt like I was flying."

"I think I see what you mean," She nodded her head thinking about how a few of the songs did seem to have this sense of 'flight' to it.

"You know there are a few jazz clubs I know," Flynt started up. "If you are interesting there are a few you might enjoy."

Weiss thought about it, it would be nice to have something to do when they had down time. Also she was interested in this music and Flynt did seem to know what he was talking about. It could be fun and she was looking forward to listening to a live performance of this.

"I would like that very much, thank you." She told him.

"Any time Schnee." Flynt tipped his hat to her.

"One more thing," She told him. "It's Weiss, please."

"Sure thing, Weiss, maybe you'll do me a favor now?"

"Oh? What's that?"

"I heard you used to sing back before you left for Beacon." Flynt had heard and remembered seeing the advertisements for Weiss Schnee singing on stage but back then, he hated everything about the Schnee family and ignored it. Now that he had gotten to get to know Weiss, he was curious. Was it pure talent or if her father had paid to get her to sing on stage.

"Oh well let me see," Weiss checked her scroll. She did love to sing it was one of the few things she enjoyed that her father had forced her to do it also helped that she had talent for it. She found a song she had sung before thankfully it was just the musical version of it with no lyrics.

She cleared her throat as the song started up, she closed her eyes listening to it and waiting for her queue. Then she opened her eyes as the song flew out of her lips and filled the room.

Flynt was surprised by her voice, it had such a power and scale to it that seemed bigger than he was expecting. He listened as Weiss's emotions were intertwined with the song. She didn't just stand there singing, her body movements went to enhance the performance. Her voice carried by the acoustics in the room as her voice filled the room to the brim with her song.

It was a more classical style of singing, almost operatic he would think but she used it. Her voice was amazing and he could see that it was pure talent that got her to sing in front of whole theaters in the past.

He noticed something with the song though, it was sorrowful as she sang about being trapped in a gilded cage, unable to fly free and dreaming of the sky. At first, he put it off to just being the song but it was her emotions she put into it. As a musical Flynt knew that putting your emotions into the song only made it more powerful, especially if you could put in true emotions. Thoughts and feelings you actually had and put them into the song allowed the song to touch people on a deeper level.

He had seen it himself when he played as his music could sometimes resonate with others.

Hearing her now though, he could feel her emotions mixed in with the song. He heard the expression that eyes were windows to the soul but to him it was music that was the doorway to the soul, as to him music came from the heart.

Weiss finished her song with a bit of a smile it always made her feel better to sing. It was cathartic at times for her. "So what did you think?"

"You really know how to sing I'll tell you that," Flynt nodded his head. "Maybe if you learn a few jazz songs we can perform together."

Weiss thought about it, she had enjoyed this jazz music and maybe she could find something to sing. "I think that sounds fun, I'll start looking through some songs unless you have some recommendations."

Flynt smiled and nodded, "I got a few. Here let's get you started."

He got his scroll to start transferring songs to her as she grabbed hers to sink with his eager to hear more about his new music she was being exposed to.

 **TBC…**

 **For those wondering I was listening to Miles Davis' Summertime and Thad Jones Whisper Not when writing the music parts for Flynt so you can take a listen and get an idea of what Weiss was hearing.**


End file.
